Background
Joseph Lau was born on July 21, 1951 in Hong Kong.
劉鑾雄
Joseph Lau was born on July 21, 1951 in Hong Kong.
University of Windsor.
His fortune is estimated by Forbes at $13.3 billion as of March 2016. He has a younger brother Thomas and two younger sisters. Thomas Lau is also a billionaire.
Lau owns a 61% stake in Chinese Estates Holdings.
Lawsuits
On 31 May 2012, the Macau Court of Final Appeal confirmed that Lau and Steven Lo were involved in the case of offering Macau"s former public works chief Ao Manitoba-long Hong Kong$20 million over the bid for five plots of land opposite Macau International Airport. Lau and Lo were charged with bribery and money laundering.
They both denied the charges and Lo earlier told the court that the Hong Kong$20 million was a preliminary payment to construction company San Meng Fai. On 14 March 2014 Lau and Lo were found guilty of the charges against them in Macau"s Court of First Instance.
Lau was sentenced to five years and three months in prison, but he appealed.
However, the Court of Second Instance rejected his and Lo"s appeals on 19 July 2015 and let the length of their prison terms stand. Lau has so far escaped extradition and remains at large as a fugitive as Macau and Hong Kong do not have an extradition treaty. In 2008, Lau Ming-wai"s wife gave birth to mix twins, they are Lau"s eldest grandchildren.
Lau Ming-wai is vice-chairman of Chinese Estates Group and is on the steering committee of the Hong Kong$10 billion Community Care Fund, established in 2010.
In 2011, he was part of Henry Tang"s election team for the 2012 chief executive election. In 2001 Lau met Yvonne Lui, then aged approximately 24.
In 2008, Lau became the grandfather of twins. Lau junior acceded to the chairmanship of Chinese Estates following his father"s conviction in the court of Macau on bribery charges in 2014.
Sue Chan, the elder sister of Lau"s girlfriend Kimbie, became the chief executive of the company Lau founded.
In May 2007, Lau was revealed to be among the first seven purchasers of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet for private use. According to the Sunday Times, Lau owns one of the world"s fine least 10,000 bottles, and is an avid art collector. On 7 November 2007, he made the top purchase of the evening at a Sotheby"s auction by paying $39.2 million for Paul Gauguin"s Te Poipoi, a painting of a Tahitian scene.
He also bought her a Cartier brooch featuring a 10.1 carat ruby, that he named "Zoe Red" at Christie"s for $8.4 million.
In November 2015, Lau bought another two expensive diamonds. On 10 November, he bought a 16.08 carat pink diamond at Christie"s for $28.5 million.
The next day, Lau bought a 12.03 carat blue diamond at Sotheby"s for $48.4 million, setting new records for the most expensive jewel sold at auction and the most expensive diamond ever. He subsequently renamed them the "Sweet Josephine" and the "Blue Moon of Josephine" respectively.
Thomas Lau, younger brother.