Education
‘Eddie’, as he is affectively referred to by his peers, came from humble beginnings. Originally a math teacher, he emigrated to Australia in 1979, adopted his English first name ‘Eddie’ and obtained citizenship a year later.
立培 叶
‘Eddie’, as he is affectively referred to by his peers, came from humble beginnings. Originally a math teacher, he emigrated to Australia in 1979, adopted his English first name ‘Eddie’ and obtained citizenship a year later.
Ye then spent ten years as a trader in the food processing, grocery delivery, and garment industries. In 1989, with an accumulated US$12 million from his Australian endeavors, he began investing heavily in Shenzhen real estate. This early engagement in the Chinese real estate market soon yielded substantial returns as the depressed land prices of an originally agricultural city soared during its rise to one of China’s pre-eminent urban centers. In the following years, Ye continued developing offices, apartments, villas, golf courses, and commercial properties in the provinces of Guangdong and Jiangsu, as well as in Beijing, and ultimately, Shanghai.
In the 1990s Ye invested in the Shanghai Super Ocean Group, and sold in excess of 40 000 square meters in 2006, with another 100 000-plus square meters in development. While his focus on China’s most prominent metropolis may at first seem only a rational business decision, it may also be attributed to the fact that he is a native of Shanghai.
In and around this booming commercial hub alone, in 2008 the real estate magnate was involved in three major developments with investments in excess of US$1 billion. These include a new tower in the center of Shanghai’s Lujiazui financial district, the high-end Mandarin City residential project in the Hongqiao airport area, and a shopping mall in Tongxiang, Zhejiang Province. The latter is the group’s first commercial tourism real estate project with a total estimated investment exceeding US$80 million.
Specializing in leather and fur products, this two-phase shopping complex is situated about an hour outside Shanghai, but more importantly, it is only 15 minutes from the scenic water town of Wuzhen, which receives 5 million visitors a year. By 2006, the first phase of the project was completed with a total gross floor area of 96 000 square meters, offering 400 plus fashion shops. The second phase is projected for completion in 2009 and is expected to offer a pedestrian mall and high-end international leather products.
Eddie Ye has also made the news as a high roller in Melbourne’s Crown Casino where he is said to have been turning US$120 million-plus a year since the late 1990s with his preferred game of baccarat. According to Crown’s parent Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd (Melbourne, Australia), Ye owed the casino A$2.8 million after allegedly losing A$5 million at a visit in July 2000. He was able to return to the tables in October of 2000, though.
What was not in dispute was his love of gambling. ‘I am a gambler,’ he admitted, ‘Going to casinos is just part of my life. It’s relaxation for me’ (McDonald, 2003). But while he may sometimes lose and sometimes win in Melbourne’s Crown Casino, he is surely winning consistently as Shanghai’s pre-eminent land and real estate property developer.