Michael Ying Lee Yuen (; born December 1949) is a Hong Kong

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...

businessman and philanthropist. Ying is the former chairman and chief executive officer of

Esprit Holdings Limited Esprit Holdings Limited () is a publicly owned manufacturer of clothing, footwear, accessories, jewellery and housewares under the Esprit label. The company is headquartered in North Point, Hong Kong, and Ratingen (near Düsseldorf), Germany. In ...

, and remains the largest individual shareholder, with a 15% stake. Ying steadily reduced his majority stake in recent years, pocketing more than $2 billion. Ying has donated to various charitable organizations, and started the Yanai Foundation in 2006 to benefit medical and educational related initiatives.

Early life

Ying was born in Hong Kong. His father and his family had originated from

Wenchang Wenchang ( postal: Mencheong; ) is a county-level city in the northeast of Hainan province, China. Although called a "city", Wenchang refers to a large land area in Hainan - an area which was once a county. The urban center and the seat of govern ...

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

, China. He began his career as a laborer in the garment factory, and later dealt with clients such as Esprit. Esprit later hired Ying as its sole sourcing agent in 1970. Esprit Far East Group began operating in the 1970s when its founders Susie and

Douglas Tompkins Douglas Rainsford Tompkins (March 20, 1943 – December 8, 2015) was an American businessman, conservation movement, conservationist, outdoorsman, philanthropist, filmmaker, and agriculturalist. He co-founded the North Face Inc, Esprit and vario ...

began doing business with Ying.

Career

In the mid 2000s, Esprit Holdings Limited generated worldwide sales of around EUR 3.25 billion (as of 30 June 2008). Esprit operates in more than 770 retail stores worldwide and distributes products to more than 15,150 wholesale locations around the globe. Esprit has more than 1.1 million square meters of retail space in 40 countries. The clothier was started in 1968, when Susie and Doug Tompkins sold clothes out of the back of a station wagon in San Francisco. Esprit Far East Group began operating in the 1970s when the couple met Ying. During Ying's tenure, Esprit's sales grew 30-fold to HK$23.3 billion in the year ended June 2006 from HK$769.7 million in 1993, according to data compiled by

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ma ...

. Ying helped oversee Esprit's global expansion and a sales surge during a 13-year tenure as chairman that ended in 2006. In January 2019, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' estimated his net worth at

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

2.4 billion.

Personal life

Ying has now dedicated his time to his family, Yanai Foundation, and maintains a low profile in Asia. Ying enjoys the outdoors, diving, golf and exploration. In 1986, Ying married

Flora Cheong-Leen Flora Zeta Elizabeth Cheong-Leen (born November 20, 1959) is a Hong Kong actress and fashion designer. Biography Cheong-Leen is an Australian who was born in Hong Kong. Her father Hilton Cheong-Leen was born in Georgetown, British Guyana a ...

, a ballerina turned entrepreneur, and they have one child Claudine Ying (born 1987). They divorced in 1988. In 1995, Ying married former actress

Brigitte Lin Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia (; born 3 November 1954) is a Taiwanese actress. She is regarded as an icon of Chinese language cinema for her extensive and varied roles in both Taiwanese and Hong Kong films. Biography Lin was born in Chiayi, Taiwan. S ...

and they have two daughters together: Ying Oi Lum (born 1996) and Ying Yin Oi (born 2001). They live in Hong Kong.

References

External links

Michael Ying's short biography at Forbes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ying, Michael 1949 births Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Hong Kong billionaires Hong Kong chief executives