Lee Shau-kee, a shrewd investor who built Henderson Land Development into one of Hong Kong’s biggest property companies, gave away some of his US$29.2 billion fortune to causes including education, youth and elderly care for the underprivileged during his lifetime.
The late tycoon donated cash, land and properties through the Lee Shau Kee Foundation and the Hong Kong Pei Hua Education Foundation, and offered scholarships to support academic excellence and scientific pursuits, benefiting countless underprivileged people in Hong Kong, mainland China and elsewhere.
Lee, affectionately known as “Fourth Uncle” by his staff and associates, died on Monday at 97, having built a conglomerate comprising seven Hong Kong-listed firms that included interests in real estate, hotels, piped gas and transportation. With a US$29.2 billion fortune, Lee was second-richest man in Hong Kong after 96-year-old Li Ka-shing, according to a Forbes ranking in February.
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“As an eminent business leader and entrepreneur, Lee was also a highly respected and patriotic philanthropist,” Sun Hung Kai Properties, which Lee co-founded in 1963, said in a tribute on Tuesday. “His benevolence has benefited countless people, with a profound and lasting impact.”
The man, whose company built one of Hong Kong’s largest private land holdings, was also one of the first developers to give away plots for philanthropy. In 2014, Lee’s foundation donated a 100,000 sq ft plot of land in Tuen Mun, previously held by Henderson Land, to Pok Oi Hospital to be developed into the city’s largest senior care facility. The project can provide over 1,400 residential units, along with an array of amenities and services.
A year later, the Lee Shau Kee Foundation donated a 66,000 sq ft site in Yuen Long to a charity organisation known as Po Leung Kuk, which developed the site into the largest hostel project for young Hongkongers.
The 27-storey hostel offers 1,680 places for residents aged between 18 and 30 to support the Hong Kong government’s scheme to provide affordable housing for younger generations.
“We are grateful to Henderson Land for actively supporting the government’s transitional housing programme by providing land and short-term vacant units in urban areas and the New Territories,” said Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin in a statement. Those contributions helped “to alleviate the pressures faced by those living in poor conditions and those with urgent housing needs”, she added.
Lee also supported educational and community initiatives in Hong Kong, mainland China, and overseas by providing scholarships, building funds and other support to colleges and universities, including to all nine universities in Hong Kong, three in mainland China and several overseas institutions.
“He was committed to promoting the country’s economy, urban construction and infrastructure development, as well as supporting education, healthcare and related poverty alleviation projects on the mainland and Hong Kong,” the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong said in a statement. Lee was its vice-president.
Last year, his foundation donated £10 million (US$13 million) to the University of Edinburgh to fund scientific research. His foundation also became the principal sponsor for the Hong Kong Laureate Forum in 2019, contributing a total of HK$80 million to fully fund the inaugural event in 2023.
“Over the past decades, Lee had exhibited extensive generosity in setting up the Hong Kong Pei Hua Education Foundation and the Lee Shau Kee Foundation,” Choi Yuk-lin, the secretary for education, said in a statement. “The education sector is deeply inspired by Lee’s commitment to the country, his passion for education and dedication to nurturing outstanding talent.”
Lee established the Hong Kong Pei Hua Education Foundation in 1982 to provide educational opportunities in mainland China. In the late 1980s, it began to focus on areas inhabited by ethnic minorities, and it organised and sponsored more than 750 training programmes for more than 1.2 million people, according to its website.
Lee launched “The Warmth Project” in 2005, donating 330 million yuan (US$45.7 million) to train 1 million farmers and 10,000 village doctors in mainland China, making it the country’s largest charity-based training programme.
“His philanthropic contributions, amounting to billions of dollars, created a ripple effect, inspiring countless others to follow his example,” according to an obituary published by Henderson Land.
More from South China Morning Post:
- Lee Shau-kee, founder of Henderson and the ‘Fourth Uncle’ to Hongkongers, dies at age 97
- Hong Kong homebuyers deliver brisk weekend sales for developers, as small flats favoured
- Henderson Land releases price list for Belgravia Place II housing project in Cheung Sha Wan
- Henderson Land to launch 12 projects with 5,400 units this year, citing market optimism
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