- Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing announced his retirement on Friday, at 89 years old.
- Li is the 23rd richest person in the world with a estimated net worth of $35.4 billion
- Often called "Superman," he has an incredible "rags-to-riches" story that saw him go from impoverished in southern China to building a conglomerate that spans across 50 countries and 323,000 employees.
Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing announced on Friday that he would be retiring from running CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings, the two massive conglomerates that he built in Asia's most famous rags-to-riches story.
While he is no longer the richest man in Asia, the 89-year-old still ranks as the 23rd richest person in the world with a current estimated net worth of $35.4 billion.
Li is retiring weeks shy of his 90th birthday, but it is unlikely that the famously active mogul will rest for long. He has said he plans to work on his charitable foundation, the Li Ka Shing Foundation, and has pledged one third of his wealth to philanthropy.
His 53-year-old son, Victor Li, will take over the conglomerate, which has 323,000 employees, operations in 50 countries, and investments ranging from property and technology to energy.
Often called "Superman" and Asia's answer to Warren Buffet by the media, Li has an incredible and inspiring life story. He went from dropping out of school as a child to support his family to becoming the first person of Chinese origin to buy one of the British-built Hong Kong companies that dominated the city since its colonial days.
Christi Danner contributed reporting to an earlier version of this story.
Li Ka-shing was saddled with financial responsibility from a young age. After his family fled to Hong Kong from southern China during WWII, his father died of tuberculosis. He had to leave school before the age of 16 to work in a plastics factory.
Source: Business Insider
For almost four years during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, he sent 90% of his pay to his mother. Li worked hard from a young age, often working 16 hours a day, seven days a week, a pace that he says he continues to keep up even at 89 years old.
Source: Forbes
Li eventually became the factory's top salesman and was promoted to be the factory manager at 18.
Source: Forbes
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