Thomas Fung Wing-fat (; born ) is a Hong Kong-born Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He is the eldest son of

Fung King Hey Fung King Hey (1922–1985), was a Hong Kong businessman. He was born in Guangzhou, mainland China. He is the co-founder of Hong Kong-based Sun Hung Kai & Co. and was reputed as "King of securities world" and "Godfather of the stock market". H ...

, the founder of Sun Hung Kai (SHK) Financial in Hong Kong. He is the founder of the

Fairchild Group The Fairchild Group ( zh, t=新時代集團, s=新时代集团, p=Xīnshídài Jítuán, j=San1si4doi6 Zaap6tyun4, first=t) is a Canadian business conglomerate, with headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Fairchild Group operates ...

, a media and real estate conglomerate, which operates Asian-themed shopping malls and Chinese-language television networks and radio stations.

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

(Canadian edition) named him one of the most influential people in Canada. In 2011, he received an honorary degree from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

Early life

Fung spent most of his teen years in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, emigrating to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1967. He graduated from Magee High School in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. He took baking courses in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

during his 20s. When he returned to

in 1984, he founded the first of four Saint Germain Bakery outlets. During the 1970s, Fung studied film-making on the side at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

when he was sent to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to train at the

Merrill Lynch Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...

brokerage firm. Then he went back to

, staying 10 years and starting a film-production company, an advertising agency and a public relations firm. He was also worked for his father at Sun Hung Kai & Co. Thomas Fung is his son, his is studying in YCIS now.

Career

In 1984, Thomas Fung moved to Vancouver. He chose to build his business in Canada, while his brother Tony continued on in Hong Kong. Fung built North America’s first and largest Asian-themed shopping and entertainment venture,

Aberdeen Centre Aberdeen Centre is a shopping mall in Richmond, British Columbia. It is located in the Golden Village district on Hazelbridge Way, bordered by Cambie Road to the north. History The original Aberdeen Centre was built in 1989. It contained ...

in Richmond. In 2008, he established Sea Land Air Flight Centre, an advanced flight training school for both commercial and private pilots. Fung’s Fairchild Group owns and operates two national TV stations, five multicultural radio stations, local largest Chinese language magazine, an e-commerce IT company in Canada. On top of his business endeavours, Fung provides significant philanthropic support to non-profit organizations such as the

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The VSO performs at the Orpheum, which has been the orchestra's permanent home since 1977. With an annual operating budget of $16 million, it is ...

Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher (musician), Edward ...

, Children’s Hospital,

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

World Vision In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

, and others.

Honors

The Canadian federal government had appointed Mr. Fung as the Ministerial Strategic Advisor for Canada's Global Commerce directive. Business in Vancouver Magazine profiled Thomas Fung as one of the top 10 business persons in the decade.

Vancouver Magazine ''Vancouver Magazine'' is an English-language lifestyle magazine focused on Vancouver, British Columbia and the Lower Mainland. ''Vancouver Magazine'' describes its mission as informing, guiding and entertaining residents of a "dynamic, internati ...

named Fung as one of the Power 50 for five consecutive years. The Vancouver Board of Trade awarded Fung with the "Spirit of Vancouver Leadership Award".

Personal life

Fung is married to Amy Chan and has one son, Joseph (b. 1982), who works in

. His brother Tony Fung Wing Cheung is Chairman of Yu Ming Property Management Limited and served as Vice Chairman of the

Hong Kong Stock Exchange The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK, also known as Hong Kong Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based in Hong Kong. As of the end of 2020, it has 2,538 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of HK$47 trillion. It is repor ...

. His sister Rita Fung was married to David Ho, founder of the defunct

Harmony Airways Harmony Airways was an airline headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, a suburb of Vancouver. It operated holiday flights from Canada to Mexico, Hawaii and Las Vegas, Nevada. Its main base was Vancouver International Airport.Flight ...

References

External links