Cover Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing visits a primary school, a beneficiary of the Li Ka-shing Foundation. Notably, Li has characterised his charitable foundation as his "third son"–and beyond Father's Day, shares a close relationship with his sons Victor and Richard. (Photo: Li Ka-shing Foundation)
Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing visits a primary school, a beneficiary of the Li Ka-shing Foundation. Notably, Li has characterised his charitable foundation as his "third son"–and beyond Father's Day, shares a close relationship with his sons Victor and Richard. (Photo: Li Ka-shing Foundation)
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This Father’s Day, take a look at these influential Asian corporate leaders who have taken active roles in preparing their children for roles at their business empires
Within family-controlled conglomerates, succession is rarely a matter of external appointments. It is, instead, a long and deliberate apprenticeship conducted within the family itself. For these executives, preparing the next generation to steward corporate enterprise is woven into the fabric of family life, with children absorbing the rhythms of the business directly from their parents long before they assume senior office.
Across Asia, founding families continue to keep their hands firmly on the tiller across generations. Here are four business leaders who have each taken an active, public role in placing their children in key roles within the companies they founded or inherited.
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Mukesh Ambani—Reliance Industries, India
As the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani has assigned key operational roles to each of his three children within his sprawling listed conglomerate: his eldest son, Akash Ambani, serves as chairman of the telecommunications subsidiary, Reliance Jio Infocomm; his daughter, Isha Ambani, leads Reliance Retail, India’s largest retailer by revenue; and his youngest son, Anant Ambani, oversees the new energy and materials divisions. Ambani appointed all three to the board of Reliance Industries as executive directors.
The arrangement contrasts with the experience of the previous generation. When the group’s founder, Dhirubhai Ambani, died in 2002 without a will, the business was divided between Mukesh and his brother, Anil, following a public dispute.
Father’s Day moment: Ambani links his approach to fatherhood to the way his own father drew him into commercial life. “Apart from academics and the fun stuff...my father shared with me his passion for business and entrepreneurship from very early on,” he told local media, in a rare interview about his upbringing and parenting style. On raising his own children, he has argued for connection beyond corporate duties: “It has to be non-academic. It is easy to be with your kids and say let’s do homework together. But we try to do things, beyond doing lunches and dinners.”
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Li Ka-shing—CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings, Hong Kong
Known as “Superman” in Hong Kong for his investment prowess, billionaire businessman Li Ka-shing brought his eldest son, Victor Li, into the business early. Victor served as deputy chairman before assuming the chairmanship of both CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings when his father retired in May 2018, at the age of 89. For his younger son, Richard Li, the elder Li has supported separate ventures beyond the core family holdings. Richard subsequently founded the telecommunications company PCCW and the insurance provider FWD.
Father’s Day moment: Li has cited the privations of his own youth—he left formal education to support his family after his father’s death—as the formative influence on his approach to succession and inheritance. He has emphasised that the measure of his legacy lies in instilling social responsibility. “Even if I leave it all to my two sons, it doesn’t make that much of a difference to them,” he said. “But by leaving it to my third son [the Li Ka Shing Foundation], many more people will be able to benefit and feel the difference.”
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Robert Kuok—Kuok Group, Malaysia
With an estimated net worth of US$13.6 billion, according to Forbes, Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok founded the Kuok Group as a commodities trading firm in 1949 and expanded it into a multinational conglomerate spanning agribusiness, hospitality, property and shipping. He has placed successive generations of his family at the leadership of his principal holdings. His eldest son, Beau Kuok, serves as chairman of the Kuok Group, while his youngest, Kuok Khoon Hua, is chairman and chief executive of the Hong Kong-listed property company Kerry Properties. Kuok’s mentorship has extended to the wider family and a third generation. His nephew, Kuok Khoon Hong, directs the agribusiness conglomerate Wilmar International, while his grandson, Kuok Meng Wei, manages data centre investments through K2 Strategic.
Father’s Day moment: Kuok has maintained that parent-led ethical instruction is the basis of durable succession. “My mom knows that I am somehow a talented businessman, but she would not want me to turn to the dark side and be an evil businessman,” he wrote in his memoirs. “She advised us to be a good person, and not be greedy about money.” Should his descendants preserve these values, he has stated, “they can go another three or four generations.”
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Dhanin Chearavanont—Charoen Pokphand Group, Thailand
Dhanin Chearavanont trained his sons within the conglomerate, distributing managerial responsibility across its agricultural, retail, and telecommunications interests. In January 2017, Dhanin assumed the role of senior chairman, while his eldest son, Soopakij, became chairman, and younger son, Suphachai, became group chief executive. Dhanin himself joined the business founded by his father and uncle before rising to lead it, extending a three-generation pattern of family control through a phased transition in which each successor manages a separate division.
Father’s Day moment: Chearavanont has framed succession as a means of keeping the business adaptable, treating the younger generation as a source of instruction. “If we are complacent and not open to change, we will soon lose our place,” the tycoon said, in a quote attributed to him by Forbes. “The best way to stay ahead is to learn from the younger generation.”
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Cat Wang is an editor at Tatler Asia based in Hong Kong, where she covers business, wealth, innovation, and impact. Previously, she was a Forbes Asia reporter and assistant editor of the Forbes Asia 100 to Watch list, spotlighting startups and small companies on the rise across the Asia-Pacific. She began her career as a trainee reporter at the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong’s newspaper of record. Born in New York City, she graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a B.A. in political science.
