The birth of the Hong Kong Island family

Time flies, and five months have passed in the blink of an eye.

1987, September.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Lin Zhichao arrived at the office of Cheung Kong Group, and then sat in the office drinking tea and reading the newspaper. He has already lived a semi-retired life, and his seven sons are already on the front line (serving as group presidents).

In the eyes of outsiders, the Lin family has entered the second generation of power, and the second generation is also quite outstanding!

"Dad, all the industrial buildings under the Cheung Kong Group have been sold out, with a total of HK$1.53 billion withdrawn. The overall price is very good. Starting from 1984, the increase in industrial buildings in recent years has been around 60-70%, generally reaching HK$600 per unit. More than square feet." Lin Ruihuan came to the office and reported the report seriously.

Selling the remaining industrial buildings was Lin Zhichao’s intention. Because Lin Zhichao knew that after the '87 stock market crash', Hong Kong's industrial buildings had no future at all, and factories had all moved to the mainland.

In fact, last year (1986), the shortage of industrial buildings in Hong Kong had already surfaced, so the growth in industrial buildings in the past two years has been good.

Based on.

Lin Zhichao arranged for Changshi Group to sell all industrial buildings, including the original industrial area of ​​Qingzhou Yingniheyuan General Factory, and also package and sell it to Yangtze River Industrial Group as a "Midea Science and Technology Park".

Qingzhou Yingniheyuan General Factory covers 60% of the area (135,000 square feet) to build a modern 'technology park', while the remaining area is built into residential and commercial buildings.

Lin Zhichao said: "In this way, Changshi Group's cash flow is very sufficient!"

Lin Ruihuan nodded and said: "Yes, Cheung Kong Group has always maintained sufficient cash flow. It has now reached HK$2.6 billion in cash and liabilities of HK$4.5 billion."

The current interest rate is about 10% to 11%. After the August 7 stock market crash, the interest rate dropped to about 8%.

Cheung Kong Group has five large-scale commercial projects under construction. The debt and cash flow are already quite explosive!

The five large-scale commercial projects are: Exchange Square Phase 2, Yangtze River Plaza, Yangtze River Group Center, Pacific Plaza (former site of Miramar Hotel/Shopping Center), Singapore Pacific Plaza (former site of Daimaru Department Store).

The total construction cost of these five projects is approximately more than 9 billion Hong Kong dollars.

Having invested in such a large group of commercial projects, Cheung Kong Group has not lagged behind in the development of real estate (residential) and is still one of the top developers; more importantly, Cheung Kong Group still has the strength to develop large-scale commercial projects in Japan and the United Kingdom.

Because of this, Cheung Kong Group's market capitalization is already HK$65 billion, still ranking first in Hong Kong's market capitalization.

Lin Zhichao said: "Continue to hold on this year and look for opportunities to break through next year!"

Lin Ruihuan replied: "Well, the second phase of Exchange Square will be put into use next year, Yangtze River Plaza will also start leasing in the second half of the year, and Singapore Taifu Plaza will also start leasing at the end of next year. After these three projects are put into use one after another, our financial situation will be better immediately. of plenty.”

He is relatively calm. Of course, the scale of Cheung Kong Group is large enough. No matter how aggressive it is, trouble can easily happen.

Therefore, after Lin Ruihuan "came to power", he did not make any "extraordinary" investments or suggestions. He just continued to develop steadily and do a good job in the existing projects of Cheung Kong Group. In the past six months or so, the father and son have also taken turns going to London to inspect the progress of the Canary Wharf Group.

Lin Zhichao himself directly participated in the design and planning of Canary Wharf and provided many constructive opinions.

After chatting for a while, Lin Ruihuan left the chairman's office. Although he is 'in power', he still has to report to the chairman, both because of his inner thoughts and because his father cannot really leave everything behind and enjoy life.

He has been dependent for a long time, but he is 'fearful' that his father will give up and do nothing. After all, his father's abilities are far beyond his. He felt that defending the city was fine, but if he wanted to invest as heavily as his father, he would be very cautious.

Unless Changshi Group has a cash flow of 10 billion, he will choose to spend 5 billion to invest in stable and reliable industries.

If it were the Canary Wharf project, he wouldn't even think about it and would reject it directly. After all, he is unwilling to spend $7 billion (tentatively) on whether the British government will fulfill the agreement (subway).

As for real estate development in Japan, Lin Ruihuan also feels that his father is too radical. Even if the bet is right now, he still doesn't think he will do this.

Of course, Lin Ruihuan also knew that his father did this because he had a powerful skill - financial investment.

After Lin Ruihuan left.

Lin Zhichao is also thinking about it. He has ordered Victoria Harbor Investment and Family Office to reduce their positions in US stocks, British stocks, Japanese stocks and Hong Kong stocks, by about 25~35%, within 45 days (including holidays). Victoria Harbor Investment still has about 2 billion Hang Seng Index futures contracts in hand, and all of them have been cleared.

Due to the large scale of investment, it is more reasonable to reduce the position by 25~35%.

He can make money just sitting in the office!

Lin Zhichao now entrusts the supervision and management of the family office to his seven sons. He is only responsible for directing the investment direction. In this way, Lin Zhichao is equivalent to only managing Victoria Harbor investment matters.

The Victoria Harbor investment is equivalent to Lin Zhichao's "private money", so he is also happy to participate in it.

Hong Kong Airlines was officially listed in Hong Kong, selling 25% of its public shares and raising HK$1.5 billion (valued at HK$6 billion). On that day, many wealthy people in Hong Kong came to attend the reception, and the scene was very lively.

After Hong Kong Airlines was listed, it really became a publicly listed company. Global Group held only 36% of the shares; the other shares were divided among HSBC, Hong Kong's major tycoons, Hong Kong CEFC, and 25% of the public equity.

Of course, Lin Zhichao doesn't value these. 36% of the equity is enough, and he doesn't intend to let Universal Group increase its holdings. The funds raised from the listing will mainly be used to purchase aircraft and increase flights to the mainland.

Of course, Hong Kong Airlines is actually not short of money. Logically speaking, there is another listing model, that is, 25% of the equity is transferred by some shareholders. However, Lin Zhichao does not like this model very much.

The reception scene.

There was a press reception area, and everyone was waiting for Lin Zhichao to come and answer questions.

Now that the Lin family has entered the second-generation succession mode, Lin Zhichao, the "semi-retired" head, has become the spokesperson of the "sons". None of his children in Hong Kong like to deal with reporters. Of course, if they are caught by reporters, these children will be polite or tactful. After all, they are the boss of the largest group of reporters, and they must pay more or less attention to the hard work of others.

Lin Zhichao came to the press area happily, ready to answer a few questions!

"Lin Sheng, why did Hong Kong Airlines choose to go public, and the shareholders will change a lot before the listing? Are you worried about Queen Jiuqi?"

The first question is very tricky.

Lin Zhichao said: "Hong Kong Airlines should have been a publicly listed company, but in the 30 years from the 1950s to the 1970s, if it were listed, shareholders would not have the patience to wait for it to make profits. By the 1980s, the world's aviation industry Profits have soared, so I think I can choose to go public. To be honest, before the 1980s, I did not get back a penny from Hong Kong Airlines. You must know that in the 1950s, I spent tens of millions of dollars. ! If it were you, would you have the patience?"

In the 1980s, Hong Kong Airlines brought a large amount of profits to Universal Group every year, but Lin Zhichao never mentioned it.

The reporters laughed one after another. This was Lin's humor. He never knew how to be 'modest', but it would not make people think he was arrogant, because it was the truth.

Today, Hong Kong Airlines not only has route business, but also acts as a ticket agent for other airlines, is Hong Kong's largest in-flight food supplier, holds shares in air cargo terminals, charter flights, and aircraft cargo business. Importantly, it has added several flights to the mainland.

"Mr. Lin, what are Hong Kong Airlines' considerations for choosing to go public at this time?" A reporter continued to ask questions without giving up.

Quite simply, Hong Kong Airlines, which has always been closely guarded by Lin Zhichao, has experienced major changes in shareholders in recent years and is eager to go public. Many people believe that Lin Zhichao cannot escape the situation of "pleasing" the mainland and competing with the mainland. If we don’t do this, will the mainland give us routes?

Lin Zhichao was not angry when he was stalked by someone in a hurry. He often dealt with these people, how could he not know their reasons?

This time, he said: "Listing when the stock market is strong is what many entrepreneurs will do. The Hang Seng Index has risen very much in the past year, so I think it is reasonable to go public at this time."

Reporter: "Regarding the recent stock market, does Mr. Lin have any suggestions for you?"

Lin Zhichao: "My advice is - everyone should be careful!"

Boom, the scene was in an uproar.

A reporter quickly asked: "Mr. Lin, do you mean there are risks in the stock market now?"

Lin Zhichao: "Everyone should be careful!"

Afterwards, Lin Zhichao said goodbye to everyone and walked towards the reception.

The next day, the Hong Kong media exploded, using Lin Zhichao’s classic quotes as news headlines!

"Everyone, be careful!"

The media have been adding fuel to the fire, saying that when talking about how to view the stock market, Lin Zhichao emphasized that ‘everyone should be careful’!

The effect of this was very sensational. The Hang Seng Index fell 2.5% or 92.5 points at the opening of the day.

It fell 3% throughout the day, but started to rise again the next day.

So Lin Zhichao's voice only lasted for a day. Of course, there were smart people who might have listened.

But there is a problem. It is only late September, and there is still nearly a month before the "87 stock market crash". I am afraid that some investors who have already sold the stocks will eventually be unable to bear the temptation to buy them again.

Therefore, in fact, Lin Zhichao does not believe that his personal words can change the stock market too much, or at most the fate of a few investors.

Just like before the July 3rd stock market crash, the Hong Kong government directly dispatched the fire brigade to attack the exchange. Crazy stock investors only think that you are blocking their way to make money.