Richard Li

Being the son of Hong Kong’s most legendary tycoon, Li Ka-shing, is a pretty tough billing to live up to. Richard Li has done so by breaking away from the family business and creating his own portfolio of companies.

Pacific Century Group, of which he is chairman and CEO, controls telecoms giant PCCW following its landmark US$38 billion acquisition of Cable & Wireless HKT in 2000 in what at the time was Asia’s largest corporate acquisition. The company has extensive financial holdings, including listed insurance company FWD and luxury property and infrastructure business Pacific Century Premium Developments, having previously owned PineBridge Investments before its sale to MetLife in late 2025.

In July 2025, Li achieved a historic corporate victory by steering his pan-Asian insurance giant, FWD Group Holdings, to a highly successful HK$3.5 billion (US$442 million) initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Over the following year, he continued to aggressively scale his regional footprint, successfully leading FWD to secure a mainland Chinese insurance brokerage licence and a strategic 20 per cent stake in Juntian Insurance Brokerage.

Li began working at the family business in 1990, in the fund management division of Hutchison Whampoa. It was also in 1990 that he established regional satellite TV operator Star, later using the money he made selling it to News Corporation to establish PCG in 1993. He is also a member of the Global Information Infrastructure Commission and of the US Centre for Strategic and International Studies’ International Councillors Group.

A prolific giver to educational and healthcare charities, he has three sons with actress Isabella Leong.