The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

A New Year Comes (1990).

In mid-January, Lin Zhichao held a press conference, attended by the eldest sons of Lin Ruihuan and Lin Ruihai. This press conference had already been revealed to be about the "Lin family separation plan," so reporters from home and abroad were very excited. .

This month's "Hong Kong Political and Economic Weekly" listed the list of Hong Kong's richest people. Based on the closing of the stock market on January 6, 1990, Lin Zhichao's wealth was HK$47 billion (only looking at Cheung Kong Group and Wharf Group), ranking first. The wealth of the subsequent Kadoorie, Kwok Desheng, Fok Ying-tung, and Cheng Yutong ranged from 80 to 110 Hong Kong dollars. The four of them combined were not as rich as Lin Zhichao; the 6th to 10th place (Lee Shau Kee, Tang Zhongyuan, Pao Yukang, Li Rongsen, Guo Hoonian) ), almost all in the range of 70 to 80 Hong Kong dollars.

At the same time, Cheung Kong Holdings (RMB 55 billion), Hutchison Whampoa (RMB 32 billion), Hong Kong Electric (RMB 18 billion), and Wharf Group (RMB 21 billion) controlled by Lin Zhichao, a total of RMB 126 billion of listed companies, accounting for the total number of Hong Kong stock markets. 18.5% of the market value (680 billion).

The above statistics are based on the market value of listed companies, which is also the standard for all wealth lists. After all, companies that are not listed on the market have no way to collect statistics on "evidence".

Therefore, the Lin family's Cheung Kong Industrial Group, Media Group, Universal Group, Octopus Financial Group (Hengfeng Bank), Shangri-La Hotel Group, and Uniqlo Enterprises are not included in the calculation of wealth. Not to mention, there are no statistics on the wealth of Victoria Harbor Investment and family offices.

For example, in his previous life, Li Jiacheng generously admitted in the media that only 40% of his net worth was calculated in the wealth list. Of course, this is 40%, which is definitely a modest statement.

Nowadays, Lin Zhichao's wealth is already huge, and should be about 80 billion US dollars; the wealth of the family office and Victoria Harbor Investment alone has reached about 50 billion US dollars.

Apparently the world's richest man, the Japanese real estate developer Yoshiaki Ti, only has 150 US dollars, which is not at the same level as Lin Zhichao.

The conference site.

Lin Zhichao sat in the middle of the rostrum, flanked by his eldest son of two children, and on both sides were some of Lin Zhichao's senior assistants and advisory team.

There are hundreds of reporters in the audience, both Chinese and foreign, half from domestic and foreign media. Everyone is very excited today and looking forward to the content of the press conference.

Although Lin Zhichao's wealth is only "6 billion U.S. dollars", ranking among the top ten in the world and the first among Chinese people; but anyone who is not stupid knows that this is only wealth on paper. There are so many companies that are not listed. Just pick one up and it will add a few billions. One billion to tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars.

"Thank you everyone for coming to this press conference today. Everyone seems to be in a good mood!" Lin Zhichao began with a smile.

"Thank you Mr. Lin for the snacks and drinks!"

The reporters responded in kind.

Since it was for family matters, Lin Zhichao also asked the staff to prepare drinks and snacks for the waiting reporters.

Journalists are all uncrowned kings. Lin Zhichao has always been relatively modest and friendly when dealing with them. He has been listed as "one of the best rich people to deal with" by the media many times, along with Stanley Ho, Zheng Yutong, etc. Of course, the most difficult people to interview are Wang Dehui, Guo Desheng, Li Shauji, and Chen Tinghua. They are almost invisible.

Next, Lin Zhichao said formally:

"This press conference is mainly to announce my personal wealth distribution plan to the media, and invite the media to bear witness."

"Currently, I personally hold 62% of the equity of Cheung Kong Group and 61% of the equity of Wharf Group. The wealth distribution of these two groups is as follows: Divide the equity held into three parts, two of which are injected into the 'Father and Son Trust' Company', I and the eldest son of the two houses respectively hold 50% of the equity of this trust company; the remaining one-third of the equity is injected into the 'Lin Zhichao Foundation' for charity, and it no longer belongs to the Lin Zhichao family. But it belongs to the public.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the scene was in an uproar!

Fully one-third of the wealth, worth about 16 billion Hong Kong dollars, was donated to the ‘public’ by Lin Zhichao. Everyone is familiar with the "Lin Chi Chiu Foundation". It is a very famous world-wide "philanthropic fund" that has donated more than 3 billion Hong Kong dollars.

The amount of donations made by Lin Zhichao can already rank among the top 30 richest people in Hong Kong. Now donating another 16 billion Hong Kong dollars is directly close to the combined wealth of the second and third richest people in Hong Kong.

"Some other unlisted companies are also jointly held by my sons and me in the form of trusts. So far, my five sons have fully taken over their respective group companies."

The reporters were immediately very anxious and wanted to ask a lot of questions!

Soon, reporters were allowed to raise their hands and ask questions.

Reporter: "Mr. Lin, you donated one-third of the equity of the two largest listed companies to your 'Lin Zhichao Foundation'. Do your two sons agree with this approach?"

Lin Zhichao: "First of all, let me correct you. The 'Lin Zhichao Foundation' does not belong to me, but to the public. This foundation has always been managed and supervised by outside lawyers and accountants, and it also accepts public supervision. As for you If they agree or disagree, I’ll let them answer!”

Later, Lin Ruihuan took up the topic: "Our brothers admire our father's approach very much and agree with it. Through such actions, my father tells our children that wealth must be passed on, and character must be passed on. Through charitable acts, the previous generation can establish He is a role model of philanthropy and can pass on compassion, responsibility and values ​​to the next generation.”

Lin Ruihai continued: "Dad's public welfare and charitable heart, as well as his diligent and keen business methods, have been passed on to us over decades. We also respect and recognize his charity and public welfare behavior very much. , and will continue to pass it on and use him as a role model.”

Next.

The reporter asked again: "Mr. Lin is 61 years old this year. Is it too early to retire at this age, especially since you still look so young?"

Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "My children have passed the test, and I can safely hand over the management of the company to them. Of course, I am not completely giving up on the company, but I am just handing over most of the work to them; and I, myself, take out more Use the time to examine and think about the direction and goals of the company's development. It is not a full retirement, but a semi-retirement model. Don't make a mistake in writing this tomorrow, otherwise the investors will scold me!"

"Haha" the whole scene burst into laughter.

The atmosphere became lively again.

Reporter: “Can you teach everyone how to make a fortune?”

The scene was in an uproar. Are all reporters these days so straightforward?

Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "Of course I hope that everyone can make a fortune, but this wealth must be generated by society. Otherwise, the essence of wealth is to transfer from one place to another. Of course, since you asked, then I There is only one thing to say - that is to buy my company's stocks. After all, my company has never let anyone down, right?"

"Yeah yeah"

"Of course the company of the God of Wealth will not suffer losses!"

The next day.

Media outlets throughout Hong Kong have reported on two key news items, namely the "Lam Family Separation" and "The Largest Donation in History", which aroused heated discussions among the public.

"Lin Sheng is so generous by donating HK$16 billion! He is indeed the first person to receive charity!"

"In fact, it is more than 16 billion Hong Kong dollars. The stocks of both companies have risen sharply today and will continue to rise in the future, so the donation is more than 16 billion Hong Kong dollars!"

"Have Cheung Kong and Wharf gone up again today?"

"Of course, I haven't seen Mr. Lin Zhichao asking everyone to buy stocks of his companies. This is the secret to making money!"

There was also heated discussion about the separation of the Lin family. For a time, the whole Hong Kong was a topic about the Lin family.

The turmoil outside did not affect the inside of the Lin family at all.

Lin Zhichao's wife and children already knew about this distribution method. His wealth was huge enough, and each son received about the same amount of wealth. Even though there are some comings and goings at present, in terms of prospects, everyone has the same opportunities, and they can all become bigger and stronger in the future.

After New Year's Day this year, the Cheung Kong Group officially announced that it would invest HK$13.5 billion in the development of: Laguna City in Cha Kwo Ling, Hui Jing Gardens under Lam Tin MTR station, and Kingswood Villas in Tin Shui Wai; and invest HK$6 billion in the development of 'Hengfeng Plaza' .

(The Harbor Plaza in Ap Lei Chau and the Hui Hoi Garden in Tseung Kwan O will be built later)

For a time, the entire Hong Kong investment market was excited.

In the past year, Lin Zhichao's companies have achieved very impressive results.

Take Hutchison Whampoa as an example: Last year, it entered the telecommunications industry in the United Kingdom and Australia, and Watsons entered the retail industry in the mainland. These are all pioneering achievements.

Today's companies, even without Lin Zhichao, will gradually develop into "Fortune 500 companies in the world". In fact, they may already be Fortune 500 companies.

Taking Cheung Kong Group as an example, its net asset value should be around HK$140 billion (last year, its assets in Japan and the UK alone were as high as US$7 billion, or HK$55 billion);

Hutchison Whampoa's net asset value is also around HK$70 billion. Even excluding Hong Kong Electric, a "public enterprise", Cheung Kong's net assets have reached about 210 billion.

This is due to underestimation and the fact that real estate has not risen. Soon these assets will continue to rise. As for the market value of Cheung Kong, it is of course even more undervalued (only about 40% of its net assets). After all, there has been no announcement on overseas investment for the time being.

In the past year (1989), Cheung Kong Group's profits reached a new high, with normal profits of about HK$4.1 billion; as for profits from Japanese investments, the total would reach more than HK$28 billion.

Of course, Lin Zhichao will not be so high-profile. The profits from Japan have not been completely withdrawn to Hong Kong. He plans to withdraw them in two or three years, counting them as non-recurring profits for two or three years.

The ‘ATV Center (ATV)’ building located on Broadcasting Road in Kowloon was officially put into use on New Year’s Day. The building covers an area of ​​680,000 square feet and covers an area of ​​more than 60,000 square feet. It can be said to be huge in scale.

The putting into use of this building means that 'Asia Television' and 'Asia Satellite TV' have a first-class environment.

Lin Zhichao met with Lin Ruikai, Zhou Liangshuyi, Chen Qingxiang, and Shi Nansheng in the office to inquire about the progress of 'satellite TV'.

"Sheng Lin, the Hong Kong government has relaxed the regulations restricting the development of satellite TV in Hong Kong. The new regulations stipulate that the use of dish wireless to watch satellite TV, as long as it does not involve commercial purposes (pointing to user charges, etc.) or rebroadcasting (pointing to wireless stations, etc.) Cable stations provide services for a fee), so they do not need to apply for approval and obtain a license. The Ordinance also stipulates that independent satellite dish wireless that only connects to one TV set is exempt from licensing; if a building has a satellite dish antenna and indoor system, then It needs to be installed and operated by a licensed company. According to statistics, at least 150,000 buildings in Hong Kong meet the standards for installing satellite antennas." Shi Nanshenghui reported.

Lin Zhichao immediately said: "It seems that the future of satellite TV in Hong Kong is good! But I think things will not go too smoothly, right?"

Last year, the Hong Kong government also invited tenders for "cable television". The company owned by Lin Zhichao had no intention of bidding, but it was won by a consortium headed by Sun Hung Kai and the Pao family.

Nowadays, satellite TV has to install satellite antennas on 150,000 buildings in Hong Kong, which has a huge impact on cable TV.

Shi Nansheng nodded and said: "That's right! Cable TV and TVB have joined forces to put pressure on the Hong Kong government, so currently the Hong Kong government has set two thresholds for us: first, we cannot broadcast Cantonese programs; second, we are not allowed to provide users with TOLL."

Sure enough, when interests are involved, everyone will tear themselves apart.

Behind TVB are Run Run Shaw and Lee Wing Sum; behind cable television are Kwok Bing-hsiang, Ng Kwong-cheng, and Lam Pak-yin; they join together because they don’t want one media group to dominate.

Not being able to broadcast Cantonese programs means losing the local market, which is the largest market (in the beginning); because Hong Kong people do not understand Mandarin, if it is a Mandarin program, everyone will not want to watch it and will just skip it.

Lin Ruikai said: "Father, I am conducting public relations on Article 12, and I will definitely make the Hong Kong government relent!"

Lin Zhichao asked: "What are you going to do?"

You can't do it forcefully!

Lin Ruikai said: "First, use the media to refute the Hong Kong government's actions. Asia Satellite TV is a local TV station. If it cannot use Cantonese, this is completely nonsense; second, I plan to hire an independent public relations company to conduct a public opinion survey. We will conduct an investigation and submit the findings to the Broadcasting Authority of the Hong Kong Government’s Cultural, Cultural, and Cultural Broadcasting Branch as a reference for amending the regulations. I am confident that Hong Kong audiences will 100% agree to the broadcast of Cantonese programs. After all, who doesn’t want one more choice?”

Lin Zhichao thinks that it is okay to do this kind of public relations first. After all, the satellite has not been launched yet (it will be launched in April), and everyone does not know whether it will be successful or not.

The media group is already making preparations. It has invited Chen Qingxiang from Hong Kong Television to be the CEO, and has hired a content production team from Asia Television.

If everything goes well, the pilot will be launched in the second half of this year!

The total cost of Asia Satellite 1 is US$120 million, including purchase, launch and insurance costs. There are a total of 24 satellite channels, which are mainly used for telephone services and are operated by Hutchison Communications (the three major shareholders: Hutchison, Dadong, and CITIC); telephone services do not use too many channels, so 12 of them are For services provided by Asia Satellite TV.

Then, Lin Zhichao said: "How is the preparation for Hong Kong Stream Culture going?"

When they heard "Hong Kong Streaming Culture", Zhou Liang Shuyi, Chen Qingxiang, and Shi Nansheng couldn't help but get excited. If it were any other company or individual talking about this, they would say without hesitation that it was just whimsical.

Only media groups can do this, and that is to open up new fields and cultures.

After all, the comics industry of the media group and some of ATV's programs confirm this.

Lin Ruikai said: "At present, we have made great progress in the three major fields of music, dramas and variety shows. In terms of music, the selection of the boy group H.O.T and the girl group SES has ended, and the training series "Blue" for the last half year is in progress. The script of "Life and Death Love" has also been created. The variety show "Inkigayo" will be Asia Satellite TV's signature music program, and "Talent Show" is also Asia Satellite TV's signature program."

Lin Zhichao looked at the information in his hand and listened to Lin Ruikai's report, feeling very proud.

He is participating in these contents because he needs to set a model for the media group. Of course, it is undeniable that Lin Zhichao has lost some of his memory over the years, so he only gave Lin Ruikai a rough idea.

For example, in previous Korean dramas such as "Blue Life and Death", Lin Zhichao probably explained the following: a bloody plot - the baby reports a mistake, brother and sister become lovers, the female partner becomes jealous and evil, the male partner likes the female protagonist, and the complex emotional relationship between the male and female protagonists ends in death. How the ethical dilemmas are intertwined. Of course the male lead is Dawn, the true ancestor of the Korean Wave!

For example, the 'idol groups' HOT and SES first focus on rebellious, passionate, youthful, and pure singing and dancing groups.

In short, by following Lin Zhichao's rules, coupled with the various talents cultivated by ATV over the years, it is indeed possible to create a "Hong Kong Streaming Culture". Mainly, there are still people who are willing to lay out the overall situation, invest, and plan the direction.

In the end, Lin Zhichao said: "Don't rush to promote these things. After the trial broadcast on satellite TV is over, we can put it out and become an instant hit."

"OK!"

‘Hong Kong culture’ is not the exclusive property of satellite TV, but it can be used for ‘bilateral publicity’ on satellite TV as soon as possible, and Asia Television can also rebroadcast satellite TV programs. (End of chapter)