The eight-year transition period has concluded. Li Ka-shing has truly stepped back this time, with his son formally taking the reins of the trillion-dollar business empire.

Many believed the succession was complete in 2018 when Li Ka-shing retired as senior advisor and Victor Li assumed the chairmanship. That was a misconception; that was merely putting the successor in the saddle. The real succession involves veteran lieutenants retiring gracefully, old capital transforming into new capital, and the second generation repurchasing assets according to their own logic to gallop forward. This gallop has fully revealed Li Ka-shing's strategic layout for 2026.

Eight years on, the old guard has retired with honor, and the new team personally selected by Victor Li is poised to step into the spotlight. The true "second-generation succession" for the CKH HOLDINGS group has arrived!

Changing of the Guard

With the emperor goes his court. Following Li Ka-shing's retreat, the "old guard" he personally nurtured is also dispersing.

Recent reports suggest that as the spin-offs and sales of telecommunications and retail businesses gradually conclude, CKH HOLDINGS is preparing for a round of senior management transition. Veteran executives from the Li Ka-shing era are expected to step down collectively.

When speaking of the old guard at CKH HOLDINGS, one name is unavoidable—Canning Fok. At 74, he joined Cheung Kong Industries in 1979 and fought alongside Li Ka-shing for 47 years, truly his right-hand man. From the Hutchison Whampoa acquisition and massive overseas utilities expansion to the 2015 restructuring of Cheung Kong and Hutchison, the sale of European telecom towers, and the exit from the UK power grid... he was behind almost every deal that defined CKH HOLDINGS' global footprint. With an annual salary exceeding HK$100 million, he is rightly called "Hong Kong's working emperor."

His contemporaries include 72-year-old Dominic Lai, who manages A.S. Watson, and 79-year-old Kam Hing-lam, overseeing infrastructure. The average age of the CKH HOLDINGS board is about 69, a group of veterans with over 30 years of service to the group, passing the baton all at once.

This old guard stabilized the port, retail, telecom, and infrastructure businesses across more than 50 countries, helping the steady-styled Victor Li smoothly navigate the most turbulent initial phase of succession. After putting his son Victor Li in the saddle, Li Ka-shing had the old guard escort him for another leg of the journey.

Whether seen as well-intentioned or shrewd, "Superman Li" has orchestrated a grand strategy over these eight years of retirement. In 2018, the 90-year-old Li Ka-shing officially announced his retirement, handing the chairmanship of CKH HOLDINGS to his eldest son Victor Li. However, he did not let go completely, remaining as a senior advisor to provide a safety net.

Furthermore, deeply aware of the risks in family business succession, Li Ka-shing did not rashly overhaul the management. Instead, he left a group of veterans to act as an "escort team." Fortunately, with the assistance of this "veteran team," Victor Li has steadily maintained the business foundation built by his father over the past eight years.

In 2025, CKH HOLDINGS' total revenue exceeded HK$507.297 billion, with retail revenue surpassing HK$200 billion and telecom revenue in the hundred-billion range. The cash flow from its four main businesses remained stable.

The task of preserving the family business has been successfully completed. However, the era's imprint left by the old guard has also imposed constraints on large-scale strategic transformations. The 97-year-old Li Ka-shing now relies mostly on a wheelchair for mobility, making it difficult for him to participate deeply in daily decision-making.

Rather than passively waiting for the veterans to retire year by year, potentially leaving a management vacuum, the Li family has chosen to proactively control the pace: completing the management transition while Li Ka-shing's industry credibility can still provide backing. Once all asset disposals are finalized and the veterans retire with dignity, the new team personally assembled by Victor Li will take full control, completing the succession loop.

With the veterans taking their final bow, Li Ka-shing's trillion-dollar business empire welcomes a generational handover.

The Financial Strategy Behind the Transition

Behind this changing of the guard lies a staggering financial calculation.

It is widely known that over the past decade-plus, CKH HOLDINGS engaged in a buying spree in the UK, with investments spanning power distribution, gas supply, water supply, telecommunications, railway vehicle leasing, port terminals, and more. This "buying half of Britain" strategy was entirely the work of veteran Canning Fok. The CKH HOLDINGS group has also reaped over a decade of stable cash flow from European infrastructure.

The final mission of Canning Fok's career has been to cash out European assets at high points, complete risk clearance, and free up capital and transformation space for the second generation. Particularly over the past year, CKH HOLDINGS' asset sale pace could be called Fok's year of liquidation.

In early 2026, it sold the UK's largest power distribution network, UK Power Networks, cashing out over HK$110 billion—a 146% return on this 16-year-held asset. In May, it divested its entire stake in the UK's Vodafone Three, cashing out approximately HK$45.5 billion, completely exiting the UK mobile telecom sector.

These were essentially "monopoly" businesses, "cash cows" that would continuously generate profits as long as the UK existed. Yet in 2026, they were liquidated entirely, leaving nothing behind.

In fact, the sale of the European telecom tower business earlier had already allowed CKH HOLDINGS to recoup tens of billions of euros. Recently, it has been leading the push for a dual Hong Kong-London IPO for A.S. Watson, with Goldman Sachs and UBS providing support, expecting to raise at least US$2 billion.

Bloomberg estimates suggest that if all related transactions are completed, they could bring in at least US$41 billion (approximately HK$320 billion) for the CKH HOLDINGS group. Combined with the company's existing cash reserves of HK$143.7 billion, CKH HOLDINGS would be holding a "massive war chest" of HK$463.7 billion.

How to effectively deploy this colossal sum of capital will depend on the new team led by Victor Li. For the past few decades, Li Ka-shing, leading a group of veterans, bought heavy assets, capitalized on the low valuation红利 of globalization, and built CKH HOLDINGS into a "cash flow machine across 50 countries."

Preserving a business is easier than pioneering new ventures. Over the past eight years, Victor Li has proven he can safeguard the family business. For the next decade, he needs to lead the new CKH HOLDINGS leadership, armed with nearly HK$500 billion in cash, to answer one question—without the "Superman halo" and without the "working emperor" at the helm, what will the second-generation team rely on to make the right acquisitions for the future?

It is worth noting that Victor Li said something quite pragmatic during the March 2026 earnings call: Capital in hand will not sit idle; it will be invested in places that "respect contracts, have sound legal systems, guarantee security, and offer long-term stable cash flow." He emphasized adhering to financial discipline and not being determined to win at all costs.

In simple terms, this means not recklessly chasing AI概念 bubbles, not gambling on national fortunes in markets with rapidly shifting policies. It is highly likely to continue the strategy of "low debt + cash flow + cyclical arbitrage," but the targets may shift from European and American power grids and water pipes to Southeast Asian infrastructure, healthcare, light-asset technology platforms, and consumer networks like A.S. Watson.

Unfortunately, uncertainties abound on the road ahead: The sale of global ports is slowing due to scrutiny from various countries; the timing of the A.S. Watson IPO is subject to change, making the capital repatriation节奏 difficult to fully control. Balancing dividends, debt repayment, and new investments will severely test decision-making capabilities.

In summary, with the old guard stepping down and nearly HK$500 billion in cash handed to Victor Li, this is likely the final商业 battle for the 97-year-old Li Ka-shing. The days ahead will be for complete relaxation, enjoying time with grandchildren and living out his years in peace.

The End of an Era

The Li Ka-shing era, spanning half a century, has officially turned the page.

Li Ka-shing's legendary life is a living "rags-to-riches textbook." At age 12, having just entered junior high, Li Ka-shing followed his family to Hong Kong, where they lived in his uncle's home in very straitened circumstances. To make matters worse, his father later fell ill due to overwork and poverty and passed away despondent.

Li Ka-shing had to drop out of school to shoulder the burden of supporting the family. He worked as a waiter in a teahouse, an apprentice in a watch shop, and a salesman in a hardware factory—ordered around, reading people's expressions, enduring scorching sun... he tasted the bitterness of life from a young age.

Later, Li Ka-shing changed jobs to a plastics company, which finally marked a turning point in his life. He was successively promoted to department manager and general manager, receiving a 20% bonus share. During this time, he familiarized himself with the entire process of the plastics industry from production to sale, and his management skills were honed and improved, initially revealing extraordinary business talent.

At 22, he founded "Cheung Kong Plastic Factory," earning his first pot of gold from the plastic flower business. However, it is well known that Li Ka-shing's business empire began with buying the bottom of the Hong Kong property market and flourished during the golden decade of the mainland property market.

In 1979, through Cheung Kong Industries, Li Ka-shing purchased a 22.4% stake in Hutchison Whampoa from HSBC, increasing it to 41.7% by the end of 1980. Successfully controlling Hutchison Whampoa brought immense profits. In 1985, during the Jardine Matheson financial crisis, he acquired its power supplier Hongkong Electric for HK$2.905 billion, giving the Li family control over Hong Kong's electricity supply.

After 2000, Li Ka-shing again accurately timed the golden decade of the mainland property market, reaping countless rewards. Gradually, he expanded the business into ports, energy, telecommunications, and other fields, rapidly accumulating wealth. The family's industrial interests spread across more than 50 countries globally, building a trillion-dollar business empire through decades of hard work.

Li Ka-shing's investment direction was pragmatic: "Where there is potential, invest money there!" To this day, among the founders of Hong Kong's four major families (Kwok Tak-seng, Lee Shau-kee, Li Ka-shing, Cheng Yu-tung), only Li Ka-shing remains in this world. And only the CKH HOLDINGS group, with Li Ka-shing at the helm, still maintains strong competitiveness.

Time and again,套现 has brought a continuous inflow of funds for CKH HOLDINGS. At the beginning of the year, Li Ka-shing retained his position as Hong Kong's richest person with a fortune of US$45.1 billion (approximately HK$351.78 billion).

Precision in Transition

Now, the 97-year-old Li Ka-shing has withdrawn, no longer at the forefront. Canning Fok and a group of pioneering功臣 have retired with their achievements. This is not the curtain fall of a business empire but a precise changing of the tracks for a new era.

The final lesson the 97-year-old Li Ka-shing taught his son is not "how to buy," but "how to sell, when to take the money and leave, and not to panic after getting the money." One generation builds the building, the next guards it, and the next exchanges the building for cash to build a new one. The form of the building may change, but the mindset of collecting rent remains unchanged.