Background
Li was born into the prominent banking, political and judicial Li family in Hong Kong in 1929. He was the youngest son of Li Koon-chun.
李福兆
Li was born into the prominent banking, political and judicial Li family in Hong Kong in 1929. He was the youngest son of Li Koon-chun.
The University of Hong Kong. University of Pennsylvania.
Li was enrolled to the University of Hong Kong in 1946 and soon was sent to the Wittenberg University in the United States. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Master of Business Administration degree and became a chartered accountant in 1951. He was hence called the "Godfather of the Stock Market." In 1986, Li helped merge the Far East Stock Exchange with three other exchanges into the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, precursor of today"s Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, and became its first Chairman.
During the Black Monday market crash, he closed the stock market for four days.
The Hang Seng Index fell by 33% after the market reopened which drew criticism against Li"s decision. He was only elected Vice-Chairman of the Stock Exchange in the end of the year.
Li was later arrested by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Independent Commission Against Corruption) in December 1987 and in 1991 convicted of taking bribes in return for approving listings during his office as the Chairman of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1987. He was sent to Stanley Prison, and served 30 months of a four-year sentence.
He was reported to be worth Hong Kong$10 billion before he was jailed, and even during his prison term his vast stock portfolio was said to be earning almost Hong Kong$5 million per day, while Li toiled for Hong Kong$9 in the prison library.
After his release in 1993, he said he would devote himself into a life of "golf, films and traveling" He spent most of his time in Thailand after prison until he found out he had cancer in 2012 and moved back to Hong Kong. Li died of cancer at the Queen Mary Hospital at the age of 85 on 27 December 2014.
