Walter Kwok Ping-sheung JP (; Cantonese pronunciation: ; 1950 – 20 October 2018) was a Hong Kong real estate developer. He was the eldest son of Kwok Tak-seng, founder of

Sun Hung Kai Properties Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited (SHKP; ) is a listed corporation and the largest property developer in Hong Kong as of 2019. The company is controlled by the Kwok family trust, largely the Kwok brothers. The Kwok family trust was set up by Kw ...

, and his wife

Kwong Siu-hing Kwong Siu-hing, or sometimes Kwok Kwong Siu-hing (; born 2 December 1929), is the matriarch of the Kwok family. She controls the conglomerate Sun Hung Kai Properties, the largest property developer in Hong Kong as of 2019. As of 2008, Kwong effe ...

. Following their father's death in 1990, he and his brothers

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

and

Raymond Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...

inherited Sun Hung Kai Properties. Kwok, formerly chairman and CEO of Sun Hung Kai Properties, negotiated his departure from the family firm in 2010. His mother remains the controlling shareholder of the company, whilst his brothers manage the firm. The Kwok family was ranked third in 2017 ''Asia's Richest Families'', with an estimated net worth of US$40.4 billion as of November 2017.

Early life and family

Kwok was born in 1950 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 ...

, the eldest son of Kwok Tak-seng, founder of

, and his wife

. The Kwok family's

ancestral home An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...

was located in

Zhongshan Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,622 i ...

, Guangdong, formerly known as Xiangshan. Kwok was educated at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

in England, from which he earned a master's degree in civil engineering. Kwok and his younger brothers

and

are together referred to by media as the Kwok brothers. Together they controlled the majority of

(until ouster in 2008, see below section). As of March 2018, all three brothers were listed in the Forbes 2018 ''

The World's Billionaires ''The World's Billionaires'' is an annual ranking by documented net worth of the wealthiest billionaires in the world, compiled and published in March annually by the American business magazine ''Forbes''. The list was first published in March ...

'', with a net worth of US$16.5 billion (Thomas and Raymond) and US$8 billion (Walter only) respectively. In a separate listing, the Kwok family was listed as the third-richest in Forbes's ''2017 Asia's Richest Families'', with a net worth of US$40.4

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English. * 1,000,000,000,000, i.e ...

as of November 2017. The net worth by Forbes as of his death was US$6.9 billion.

Abduction

Kwok was kidnapped by the notorious gangster "Big Spender"

Cheung Tze-keung Cheung Tze-keung ( – ) was a notorious Hong Kong gangster also known as "Big Spender" (). He was a kidnapper, robber, arms smuggler and was wanted for murder. He was best known for having masterminded the abduction of Walter Kwok and Vict ...

on 30 September 1997, and was released seven days later without police intervention. Negotiations fronted by wife Wendy resulted in payment of a ransom rumoured to have been nine figures. Following his arrest in Guangzhou in 1998, Cheung confessed that he had put Kwok in a wooden container blindfolded for four days, and fed him regular meals of roast pork with rice, until the ransom of some HK$600 million was paid. The ransom in 1,000-dollar notes was packed inside 20 large carrier bags and driven in two Mercedes saloon cars to a quiet lane in Central district.Erick Ko and AFP
"Tough guy, likeable rogue"
, The Standard, 13 November 1998 After the kidnapping, the badly shaken Kwok handed over the executive duties of SHKP to his younger brothers while retaining the title of chairman and chief executive.Mary Ma
"Kwoks captive of own success"
, ''The Standard'', 26 February 2008 His abductor, Cheung, was captured in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, China, and executed in December 1998.

Later chairmanship

As a result of his kidnapping ordeal, Kwok reportedly developed deep psychological problems, and while he retained the titles of chairman and chief executive, his two brothers Thomas and Raymond controlled day-to-day operations of the group. Under Kwok's later chairmanship, press reported that a former girlfriend, Ida Tong, had become increasingly influential in decision making. This influence has led to business decisions by Kwok that departed from its previous conservative model, and without the consensus of his brothers.Staff reporter
"My ex-wife fell for a Kwok"
, ''The Standard'', 20 February 2008

Ouster

On 18 February 2008, Sun Hung Kai Properties issued a statement saying Kwok would take a temporary

leave of absence The labour law concept of leave, specifically paid leave or, in some countries' long-form, a leave of absence, is an authorised prolonged absence from work, for any reason authorised by the workplace. When people "take leave" in this way, they are ...

for personal reasons with immediate effect. Kwok later issued a statement stating he would take a personal holiday to travel to the United States, Beijing and other cities in the coming two to three months, adding he would resume his duties on his return.Staff reporter
"Lover feud splits Kwok brothers"
, ''The Standard'', 19 February 2008 However, Kwok was formally removed as the chairman on 27 May, with his mother

taking over as chairperson. Kwok remained as one of the

non-executive director A non-executive director (abbreviated to non-exec, NED or NXD), independent director or external director is a member of the board of directors of a corporation, such as a company, cooperative or non-government organization, but not a member of the ...

s until his resignation in 2014. The ''

Sing Tao Daily The ''Sing Tao Daily'' () (also known as ''Sing Tao Jih Pao'') is Hong Kong's oldest and second-largest Chinese language newspaper. It is owned by Sing Tao News Corporation, of which Kwok Ying-shing () is chairman. Its English language sister p ...

'' and sister publication '' The Standard'' reported that the family matriarch Kwong Siu-hing, wielding the holding of the Sun Hung Kai trust, intervened to oust Kwok from his chairman position to protect the family's interests. It was said that Tong's influence as Kwok's mistress of four years had caused friction with his brothers. Kwok founded in 2010. Empire Group Holdings was incorporated in Hong Kong, and was notable for forming joint ventures with other real estate developers in the bidding of the leasehold of Government Land, such as the

Hong Kong Ferry Hong Kong Ferry (Holdings) Company Limited () is a holding company in Hong Kong involved in property development, ferry, shipyard, travel and hotel operations. It operated franchised ferry services in Hong Kong until 2000, when its ferry ...

in August 2016 and

Sino Land Established in 1971, Sino Group () comprises three listed companies – Sino Land Company Limited (HKSE: 083), Tsim Sha Tsui Properties Limited (HKSE: 0247), Sino Hotels (Holdings) Limited (HKSE: 1221) – and private companies held by the Ng Fa ...

in October 2016. The group also acquired the rights to re-develop and operate the former site of the Mariners' Club in

Tsim Sha Tsui Tsim Sha Tsui, often abbreviated as TST, is an list of areas of Hong Kong, urban area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hu ...

, despite not owning the re-developed properties. In 2012, Kwok's younger brothers Thomas and Raymond, as well as

Rafael Hui Rafael Hui Si-yan (born 8 February 1948) is a former Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong and career civil servant. Hui has been dubbed "Old Master Hui" () and "Fat Dragon" (). Hui was appointed as a Justice of the Peace on 1986 and ...

, previously the second-highest ranking government official in Hong Kong, were arrested by the city's

anti-corruption agency An anti-corruption agency is a special police agency specialised in fighting political corruption and engaging in general anti-corruption activities. Most are founded by statute, but some have a constitutional status. List See also * * * ...

on suspicion of bribery. Thomas Kwok and Rafael Hui were sentenced to prison terms while Raymond Kwok was acquitted. It has been suggested that Walter Kwok, who was not arrested, was the one who passed information to the authorities, supposedly in revenge for his ouster from Sun Hung Kai Properties a few years earlier. Kwok also sued his brothers to revoke the agreement on the distribution of the family fortune. According to his testimony in the court proceedings, he received some real estate in the United States, but of lesser value than what his brothers received.

Personal life

Kwok's parents introduced him to Lydia Ku Chee-yung, the daughter of a wealthy businessman from Shanghai, whom he married on 15 September 1982, but the marriage broke up six months later. Kwok married Wendy Lee Ting-wing in 1983. They had two sons, Geoffrey and Jonathan, and a daughter. Kwok died at

Hong Kong Adventist Hospital – Stubbs Road Hong Kong Adventist Hospital – Stubbs Road () is one of two Seventh-day Adventist hospitals in Hong Kong, the other being Hong Kong Adventist Hospital – Tsuen Wan. It is a private hospital, and is located on Stubbs Road, on Hong Kong Islan ...

on 20 October 2018, two months after suffering a stroke. He was 68.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwok, Walter 1950 births 1990s missing person cases 2018 deaths Alumni of Imperial College London Formerly missing people Hong Kong Affairs Advisors Hong Kong billionaires Hong Kong chief executives Hong Kong real estate businesspeople Kidnapped businesspeople Kidnapped Hong Kong people

Walter Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 1998–2000 Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2000–2005 Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2007–2012 Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2012–2017 Members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Members of the Selection Committee of Hong Kong Missing person cases in China Sun Hung Kai Properties people