A Hong Kong business leader who has been a driving force in expanding the Cheung Kong Group into one of the biggest multinational conglomerates will receive an honorary degree at the annual Hong Kong Convocation on May 24.
Victor Tzar-Kuoi Li is managing director and deputy chairman of Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd., the flagship company of the Cheung Kong Group. He is also deputy chairman and executive director of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., chairman of Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd., executive director of Hongkong Electric Holdings Ltd. and a director of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd.
The Cheung Kong Group operates in 54 countries and employs 240,000 staff worldwide. Its diverse array of businesses range from ports, property and hotels, retail, energy and infrastructure to telecommunications and life sciences. Cheung Kong Group is one of the leading container port operators, health and beauty retailers, and mobile telecommunications providers in the world.
In Canada, Li is co-chairman of Husky Energy Inc., one of the largest energy companies in the country.
Li is also a director of the Li Ka Shing Foundation, which primarily supports medical and educational causes around the world, with an emphasis on China.
A resident of Hong Kong, Li completed an engineering degree at Stanford University in 1986. After becoming a Canadian citizen in 1987, Li moved to Vancouver to oversee Concord Pacific Place, a waterfront residential-property development.
Carol Stephenson, dean of the Richard Ivey School of Business, said Li is “a prudent and straight-forward business leader with a strong business sense that he’s honed from a very young age. He also has a long-standing commitment of giving back.”
“Mr. Li is also a director of the Li Kai Shing Foundation, a charitable foundation responsible for more than $1.6 billion in giving since its inception. The Foundation has supported health and educational initiatives. Last year, Stanford University named its state-of-art medical school in his father’s honour, yet another example of the Li family’s commitment to charity. We are privileged to be awarding him this honour.”