Ronnie Chan Chi-chung (; born 1949) is a Hong Kong businessman.

Education

Chan earned bachelor's and master's degrees in biology from a

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...

. He received an MBA from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

in 1976. Chan was given honorary doctorates by

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

, the

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is a public research university in Clear Water Bay Peninsula, New Territories, Hong Kong. Founded in 1991 by the British Hong Kong Government, it was the territory's third institution ...

, and the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university an ...

Career

In 1991, he became the chairman of

Hang Lung Group Hang Lung Group is an investment holding company that engages in property development for sales and leasing, as well as management of car parks, properties, and dry cleaning businesses. Its subsidiary Hang Lung Properties is one of the largest pr ...

and its subsidiary

Hang Lung Properties Hang Lung Properties, formerly Amoy Properties and currently subsidiary of Hang Lung Group, is a property developer in Hong Kong. It is a member of Hang Seng Index Constituent Stocks ( blue chip) and is headquartered in the Standard Chartered ...

. As of 2014, it was one of the largest

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...

s in Hong Kong. He succeeded the chairman position in the companies from his uncle. He is also the vice-president of the

Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong The Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong (REDA; ) is a business organization representing the property development industry in Hong Kong. It was established in 1965 under the chairmanship of Henry Fok. The association's members included ...

, a co-chairman of the

Asia Society The Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco) and around the world (Hong Kong, Man ...

and chairman of its Hong Kong Center, and an advisor to the China Development Research Foundation of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. He has served on the governing or advisory bodies of several think-tanks and universities, including

China Foreign Affairs University China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU; ) is a public university for diplomats located in Beijing, China. It is jointly administrated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education. It is a Chinese state Double First Class ...

, the

and his alma mater, the

. He was a director of

Enron Corporation Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. B ...

and a member of its audit committee when it filed for bankruptcy as a result of fraud. In November 2009, he attended the

Horasis Horasis is an independent, international think tank, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 2005, by Frank-Jürgen Richter, former director of the World Economic Forum, Horasis is dedicated to the innovation and development of sustainab ...

Global China Business Meeting in Lisbon, where his criticisms of American financial policy garnered widespread attention.

Political views

Through his companies' multiple votes on Hong Kong's democratic '

Election Committee The Election Committee is a Hong Kong electoral college, the function of which is to select the Chief Executive (CE) and, since 2021, to elect 40 of the 90 members of the Legislative Council. Established by Annex I of the Basic Law of Hong ...

', Chan supported

Carrie Lam Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ( Cheng; ; born 13 May 1957) is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the 4th Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022. She served as Chief Secretary for Administration between 2012 and 2017 and Secr ...

for the role of

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

. But in 2019, during the massive protests that rocked the territory, he opined that having a civil servant (as she was) in the role was the “most ridiculous thing” and that Lam's "unwise policies" had contributed to the unrest, which he emphasised was caused by political, not social, issues. He also supported

Leung Chun-ying Leung Chun-ying (; born 12 August 1954), also known as CY Leung, is a Hong Kong politician and chartered surveyor, who has served as vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since Mar ...

in the 2013 election for chief executive.Property developer Ronnie Chan says Hong Kong needs a ‘strong, political leader’ to handle protest crisis and putting civil servants in charge is ‘the most ridiculous’ idea
, SCMP, 8 Oct 2019 He has stated that Hongkongers' "DNA is different from the mainlanders’ because many escaped from there," noting that "Hong Kong people cherish freedom, (…) while mainland Chinese people value patriotism and nationalism."

Philanthropy

In 1996, Chan began providing yearly financial assistance to needy students at top universities in China. In September 2014, Chan's family, through their Morningside Foundation, donated US$350 million and US$20 million to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and the

, respectively.Tsang, Denise. ''Ronnie Chan: philanthropist taking charity through the roof''. 22 September 2014. Raymond, Jessica. ''Chan family gift creates first named, endowed occupational therapy program in nation''. 17 September 2014. In 2021, a US$175 million gift was bestowed by Morningside on the

University of Massachusetts Medical School The University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School is a public medical school in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is part of the University of Massachusetts system. It is home to three schools: the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, the Morningside Grad ...

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

, which was subsequently renamed UMass Chan Medical School. The constituent schools were likewise renamed to the

T.H. Chan Chan Tseng-hsi (; 1923 – March 8, 1986) was a Chinese entrepreneur who founded the Hong Kong-based real estate company Hang Lung Group. Born and raised in Guangdong, China, Chan moved to the British Hong Kong in the 1940s because of the Chines ...

School of Medicine, the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, and the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

Personal life

Chan's brother

Gerald Chan Gerald L. Chan (; born 1950/1951) is an American billionaire and the brother of fellow billionaire Ronnie Chan. They run the Hang Lung Group. Early life and education Gerald Chan is the son of T.H. Chan. He received a bachelor of science and a ...

is also a director of Hang Lung Group. Chan is married to Barbara Chan and has two sons. In 2004, Chan's son Adriel Chan received his bachelor's degree in international relations from USC. Chan's other son Adley Chan earned his bachelor's degree in sociology, as well as bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees in occupational therapy from USC.

References

External links

Chairman of Hang Lung Group Limited

Committee of 100 Member Roster
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chan, Ronnie 1949 births Living people Hong Kong businesspeople Hong Kong chief executives Marshall School of Business alumni Hang Lung Group Members of Committee of 100 Enron people Hong Kong chairpersons of corporations Hong Kong corporate directors Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2007–2012 Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2012–2017 Alumni of St. Paul's Co-educational College Recipients of the Grand Bauhinia Medal Peterson Institute for International Economics