By Grace Chung and Sean Kilachand
This story is part of Forbes’ coverage of Hong Kong’s Richest 2018. See the full coverage here.
Few Hong Kong tycoons have cut as colorful a figure as real estate magnate Joseph Lau. He spends lavishly on diamonds and artworks; his girlfriends made him a fixture on the gossip pages, and he’s forced to avoid Macau, where he’s wanted as a fugitive.
Now 66 and suffering from heart disease and diabetes, he says he’s given away most of his wealth to his wife and children. But Forbes Asia includes the spouse’s assets when we calculate net worths, and for Rich Listers who founded the company that generated the wealth, we also include assets given to children because we figure the founder still controls them. So we estimate his wealth at $17 billion, up $1.5 billion from a year ago, putting him at No. 5 on the list. These assets include properties in Hong Kong and the U.S., stakes in blue-chip companies, and corporate and government bonds.
1974: Graduates from University of Windsor in Canada.
1974: Joins family business making ceiling fans with brother Thomas Lau, now also a billionaire.
1977: Marries Theresa Po Wing-kam, divorces in 1992. She dies from illness in 2003.
1978: Renames the family business to Evergo Industrial Enterprise, which, in addition to ceiling fans, sold kerosene heaters, bug killers and lighting fixtures.
1983: Evergo goes public and delists ten years later.
1985: Diversifies into stock investments and property management.
1986: Becomes the largest shareholder of Chinese Estates, a property developer, with a 43% stake.
1987: Wins control of the Kadoorie family’s Hong Kong & Shanghai Hotels in a hostile takeover; earns corporate raider nickname. Later sells the hotels back to the family.
2006: Becomes a billionaire. Debuts on Forbes World’s Billionaires list with an estimated net worth of $1.7 billion.
May 2012: Faces trial in Macau for bribery and money laundering.
May 2013: His lawyer submits a medical report to a Macau judge, citing Lau was physically unfit to show up for a court hearing.
March 2014: Becomes a fugitive. Sentenced to five years and three months in prison by a Macau court in connection with a 2005 racket that bribed a former public official in return for land concessions. The bribe was worth some $2.5 million.
May 2015: Buys Pablo Picasso’s “Buste de Femme” for $67.4 million.
November 2015: Spends $49 million on the Blue Moon Diamond for 7-year-old daughter. Reportedly the most anyone has paid for a gem at an auction.
October 2016: Reports of poor health start to resurface; he is said to suffer from renal failure, heart disease and diabetes.
November 2016: Takes out newspaper ads detailing 2014 split with ex-girlfriend Dr. Yvonne Lui Lai-kwan, the mother of two of his children.
Shortly after, he marries 37-year-old Kimbee Chan Hoi Won, a former Apple Daily entertainment reporter.
2017: Citing health concerns as one reason, says he’s keeping 10% of his assets and transferring a third of the rest to his son, Lau Ming Wai, and two thirds to his new wife on behalf of their two children.
