Pollyanna Chu (''Chu Yuet Wah''; ) is a

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 ...

businesswoman from Hong Kong. She is an executive of Kingston Financial Group, Golden Resorts Group, and Sincere Watch. As of 30 January 2018, Chu's estimated net worth was US $10.2 billion, making her the 14th richest person in Hong Kong.

Early life

In 1958 Chu was born as Yuet Wah Lee in

British Hong Kong Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the Briti ...

. Her father was Wai Man Lee. She grew up in

Aberdeen, Hong Kong Aberdeen () is an area on southwest Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Southern District. While the name "Aberdeen" could be taken in a broad sense to encompass the areas of Aberdeen (town), Wong Chuk Hang, Ap L ...

Education

Pollyanna Chu moved to the United States at the age of 18. She holds a bachelor's degree in Management from

Golden Gate University Golden Gate University (GGU or Golden Gate) is a private university in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1901, GGU specializes in educating professionals through its schools of law, business, taxation, and accounting. The university offers s ...

and awarded an Honorary Ph.D. in Business Management by York University, United States.

Personal life

She married her husband, Nicholas who she met while studying in San Francisco, California. She has one child, Kingston, who was born in San Francisco, but raised in Hong Kong. In November 2015, her son Kingston married Kelly Lo in Hong Kong. In December 2021, it was reported that Chu had a "privileged" vote in the

2021 Hong Kong legislative election 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, where the vote would count approximately 7,215 times more than an ordinary citizen.

Career

Pollyanna and her husband Nicholas Chu became real estate investors on her father's recommendation and moved to Hong Kong in 1992 to pursue the business.

Kingston Financial Group Limited

Following success in California real estate, they founded Kingston Financial in 1992. The company was named after their son. Chu served as Managing Director, but co-ran Kingston Financial with her husband. The company initially focused on IPO distribution and mergers and acquisitions, finding particular success in 2010 as a top five firm in the latter pursuit. As of 2016, Chu is the CEO and Executive Director of Kingston Financial Group Limited. As of 2016, she is the biggest shareholder and CEO of Kingston Financial. According to Bloomberg's League Tables, in 2016, Kingston Financial is ranked the 1st as the leading Placing Agent and Underwriter in Hong Kong with 47 issues. The Group is also ranked the 3rd M&A Financial Adviser in Hong Kong with 22 deals.

Securities and Futures Commission

In 1997 she was "fined...for working as an unregistered dealer." Chu was accused of

market manipulation In economics and finance, market manipulation is a type of market abuse where there is a deliberate attempt to interfere with the free and fair operation of the market; the most blatant of cases involve creating false or misleading appearances ...

in 2003 by the

Securities and Futures Commission The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong is the independent statutory body charged with regulating the securities and futures markets in Hong Kong. The SFC is responsible for fostering an orderly securities and futures market ...

Golden Resorts Group

Chu is the CEO of the Golden Resorts Group Limited. It is engaged in the hotel and gaming business, notably Casa Real Hotel and Grandview Hotel in

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

Sincere Watch Limited

In 2012, she bought a 100% stake in Sincere Watch Limited, which is currently run by her son, Kingston Chu. In May 2012, Chu became the executive director of Sincere Watch (Hong Kong) Limited and director of Sincere Watch Limited. In July 2012, she became the chairman of Sincere Watch (Hong Kong) Limited. In July, 2012, she was named chairwoman of

Franck Muller Franck Muller is a Swiss luxury watch manufacturer, named after its founder. The company's estimated total sales (in 2010/2011) were €290 million in watches with an average unit price of €38,000. Franck Muller's watches are worn by various ...

's Asia-Pacific operations.

Organisation

*Chief Executive Officer of Kingston Financial Group (1031.HK) *Chairman of Sincere Watch (Hong Kong) Limited (444.HK)

Awards

Chu was given an "Outstanding Chinese Prize" in 2008. In 2012,

Forbes Asia ''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 ...

listed her as one of their "Women In The Mix", their #35 Power Woman of 2017, their #549 'Billionaire' of 2016, and their #16 out of 'Hong Kong's 50 Richest' in 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chu, Pollyanna Living people Hong Kong billionaires 1958 births Golden Gate University alumni Female billionaires 20th-century Hong Kong businesspeople 21st-century Hong Kong businesspeople 20th-century Hong Kong businesswomen 21st-century Hong Kong businesswomen