HONG KONG: Walter Kwok, the former chairman of Hong Kong real-estate developer Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd, died on Saturday morning at the age of 68, according to a statement from his family.
“We are saddened to announce the passing of Mr Walter Kwok, who left this world peacefully on the morning of October 20, with his loving family by his bedside,” the statement said, adding that church service arrangements would be announced in due course. It didn’t disclose details of his death.
Kwok suffered a heart attack on Aug 27 and had been transferred to Hong Kong’s Adventist Hospital, according to local media reports.
Kwok was the oldest of three sons who inherited the fortune of Kwok Tak-seng, a grocery wholesaler from Guangdong province, China, who immigrated to Hong Kong after World War II.
Kwok Tak-seng joined Fung King-hey and Lee Shau Kee to found Sun Hung Kai Properties in 1963.
The company sold shares in an initial public offering in Hong Kong in August 1972 and became one of the world’s largest real-estate developers by market value. Sun Hung Kai’s business has stretched into other areas including logistics and telecommunications.
The three sons – Walter, Thomas and Raymond – took over the company after their father died from a heart attack in 1990.
Walter, also known by his Chinese name Ping-sheung, ran the company until 2008.
He was kidnapped in 1997 by a Hong Kong gang leader nicknamed “Big Spender,” who also held Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s son Victor Li for ransom.
A public family squabble led to Walter’s extended leave and, subsequently, his ouster as chairman in 2008. — Bloomberg
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