Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd (新鴻基地產), Hong Kong's biggest developer, replaced chairman Walter Kwok (郭炳湘) with his mother, seeking to end a feud that has gripped the city and split its second-richest family.
“Walter has ceased to be the chairman and chief executive of the company and has been re-designated as a non-executive director,” the company said in a filing to Hong Kong’s stock exchange. Kwong Siu-hing (鄺肖卿), 79, was appointed chairman, the company said. No chief executive officer was named.
Sun Hung Kai rose in Hong Kong trading after the decision, extending its rebound from a slump that had erased more than US$4 billion of market value. Walter, who became chairman in 1990 after his father’s death, lost a court battle yesterday to prevent a vote on his ouster, with younger brothers Thomas Kwok (郭炳江) and Raymond Kwok (郭炳聯). Walter, 57, also is suing his siblings for libel.
PHOTO: AFP
“The next question is how the company manages to deal with long-term arrangements,” said Nicole Wong, a property analyst at CLSA Ltd in Hong Kong.
The dispute has aired in court squabbles over the company that built Hong Kong’s tallest skyscraper and is the foundation of the Kwok family’s combined wealth of US$24 billion, second on Forbes Magazine’s list of Hong Kong’s richest only to Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠).
“Investors were obviously concerned about who’s going to be in charge,” Wilson Hung, an analyst at Hong Kong-based brokerage Quam Ltd, said before the announcement. “They were worried that if this keeps dragging on it will ultimately impact the company’s business.”
Sun Hung Kai rose 2 percent to HK$128.20 (US$16.42), heading for the biggest two-day gain in three weeks, as of 2:42pm in Hong Kong.
Listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 1972, Sun Hung Kai rode a three-decade surge in home prices to become the city’s biggest developer. Since Walter Kwok took over, the company’s value has ballooned 10-fold and the company now employs more than 27,000 people, its Web site said.
Walter Kwok said in a court filing that his brothers tried to remove him because he was suffering from mental illness. He said he doesn’t have any such disorder.
Walter, who has been on leave for personal reasons since Feb. 18, filed an injunction on May 15 to block the board vote.
Last Wednesday, he sued his brothers for libel, saying they had dubbed him a “liar,” a person of “low integrity” who made “unwise” investment decisions.
They have denied all the allegations.
Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal yesterday upheld a High Court ruling on Friday that canceled a temporary injunction blocking the meeting.
“This court simply cannot dictate to the board who should be their chairman,” Justices Rogers and Le Pichon said in Hong Kong’s appeals court yesterday.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
SECURITY: Taipei presses the US for arms supplies, saying the arms sales are not only a reflection of the US security commitment to Taiwan but also serve as a mutual deterrent against regional threats Taiwan is committed to preserving the cross-strait “status quo” and contributing to regional peace and stability, the Presidential Office said yesterday. “It is an undeniable fact that the Republic of China is a sovereign and independent democratic nation,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) reiterated, adding that Beijing has no right to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. The statements came after US President Donald Trump warned against Taiwanese independence. Trump wrapped up a state visit to Beijing on Friday, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had pressed him not to support Taiwan. Taiwan depends heavily on US security backing to deter China from carrying
RSS