Gordon Wu

Gordon Wu
Traditional Chinese 胡應湘
Simplified Chinese 胡应湘

Sir Gordon Wu Ying-sheung,[1] GBS, KCMG, FICE (Chinese: 胡應湘) (born 1935, Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong businessman. He is the chairman of the board of Hong Kong-listed Asian infrastructure firm Hopewell Holdings Ltd.

Background

Wu studied engineering at the University of Manitoba in 1953, then transferred to Princeton University. Wu graduated from Princeton with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering (B.Sc.Eng.) in 1958, and currently serves as a Trustee for the university. Before that, he attended Wah Yan College, a Jesuit secondary school in Hong Kong.

As one of the founders of Hopewell, he was the managing director from 1972 to 2002. In January 2002, he retired as the managing director of the company but remains as the chairman of the board. He was responsible for Hopewell's infrastructure projects in mainland China and Southeast Asia and has been involved in the design and construction of many buildings and development projects in Hong Kong and mainland China. He is also the chairman of Hopewell Highway Infrastructure Limited, subsidiary of Hopewell listed on August 2003, and an independent non-executive director of i-Cable Communications Limited.

In 1984, Wu donated US$5 million worth of his company shares to Princeton University and formed a charity fund. Wu also pledged US$100 million to the university, a sum he planned to make available for university use in 2008, on the occasion of his 50th reunion. In a talk given in October 2006, however, Wu revealed intentions of making the contribution available to the university sooner. He completed this pledge, with the last payment in 2006/2007.

He is Chairman of the Council of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Business

Wu has been an advocate for more than two decades for the construction of Asia's largest bridge project linking Hong Kong, Macau and China's Zhuhai city. The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge project was given support by the PRC government in August 2003. The bridge will span two man-made islands, allowing it to go through an undersea tunnel and let shipping pass. The concept is based on the existing Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia, United States.

Since the 1980s, Wu has steered Hopewell Holdings towards developing his vision of creating an advanced transport system for China's manufacturing powerhouse in the Pearl River Delta, which includes much of Guangdong province and makes use of its proximity to Hong Kong to access professional services and logistics.

Wu has predicted that commercial development in Hong Kong will focus upon the growth of four major pillar industries including retailing, tourism and logistics. He predicts a diminishing role for the property and textiles industries (source: October 2001, Logistics, Hong Kong Productivity Council).

Gordon Wu designed the first Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) project for the China Hotel in 1979, thus 'leading the way' into China. Wu and Hopewell went on to build power plants (Shajiao B and C) and other infrastructure projects in China, using the BOT structure.

Political stance

Gordon Wu has spoken out in opposition to the development of democracy in Hong Kong.[2][3] He joined more than 80 of Hong Kong's richest business tycoons and their heirs apparent headed for Beijing on 26 September 2003 on an annual pilgrimage. The same year, he told the Chinese University of Hong Kong EMBA programme that he opposed direct elections in Hong Kong which, he believed, would cause lots of problems. Noting that only 10 per cent of Hong Kong citizens pay taxes, with the remaining 90 per cent receiving subsidies in various forms, e.g. public housing, healthcare and education, if direct elections were introduced, this group would, with the help of the politicians they had voted in, "get not only free lunches, but free dinners and breakfasts."[4]

In the run up to the December 2005 protest for democracy in Hong Kong, he said that demonstrators are mobs, and democracy is mobocracy.[5] At a meeting attended by then Vice President Xi Jinping in 2010, he stated,

"A small number of people ... are against everything the SAR government wants to do and against everything that's from the central government. They are also using such slogans as 'uprising' and 'liberation.' These show they have hidden purposes."[6]

Hopewell Holdings

Infrastructure

Hopewell is participating in the investment of five toll road projects with a total length of 360 km, all of which are located in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong Province in mainland China. Four toll road projects are in operation while construction of the 15 km (9.3 mi) Phase I of the Guangzhou-Zhuhai West Superhighway (Guangzhou to Shunde section) commenced in December 2001. All of the projects are in the form of co-operative joint ventures between Hopewell and China partners.

  • Guangzhou-Shenzhen Superhighway
  • Guangzhou East-South-West Ring Road
  • Shunde Roads
  • Shunde 105 Roads
  • Guangzhou-Zhuhai West Superhighway

Property

Hopewell's property portfolio is mainly composed of commercial and residential premises in Hong Kong. These consist of more than 3.14 million square feet (292,000 m²) of gross area.

Hospitality

Hopewell owns hotels in Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

Management

Sir Gordon's son, Thomas Jefferson Wu, is the managing director of Hopewell Holdings.

Affiliations

Gordon Wu's affiliations in Hong Kong

Gordon Wu's affiliations in mainland China

Gordon Wu's international affiliations

  • Member of Business Advisory Council to the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group
  • Member of APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC)
  • Member of International Advisory Board of the Institute for International Business Communication, Japan

Honours and awards

Wu received several honours and awards:[1][7]

Honours

Honorary degrees

Honorary citizenships

Other awards

Trivia

Gordon Wu Hall at Princeton University
  • The world's most expensive truffle, a 1.51 kilogram rare White Alba truffle, was sold for 125,000 Euros (Hong Kong Dollar $1,250,000; US $160,000) on 13 November 2006 to Gordon Wu, who planned a charity dinner party at Toscana Restaurant at Ritz Carlton in Hong Kong. This price beats the previous world record of 95,000 Euros for a 1.21 kilogram White Alba truffle in 2005.
  • The dining hall of Princeton University's Butler residential college, built in 1983, is named for Wu. In 1995, Wu pledged a gift of $100 million to Princeton.
  • The Science and Mathematics Center at The Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut is named for Sir Gordon Wu's wife, Lady Ivy Kwok Wu.
  • The Wah Yan College Cats rescue project is located in an animal shelter on the roof of Gordon Wu Hall, Wah Yan College, Hong Kong.

References

  1. 1 2 Gordon WU Ying-Sheung biography - website of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce
  2. ↑ "Hong Kong's Gordon Wu Gets His Wish". Asia Sentinel. 18 September 2009. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  3. ↑ Loh, Christine (1 September 2003). Building Democracy: Creating Good Government for Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. p. 95. ISBN 9789622096677.
  4. ↑ "CUHK EMBA Programme "Talking to CEOs Show"-Hong Kong Should Exploit Trading Opportunities". Chinese University of Hong Kong. 3 June 2003. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  5. ↑ Cheung, Man-kwong (30 November 2005). "Hansard, Legislative Council" (PDF). p. 2588.
  6. ↑ Lee, Diana (5 March 2010). "Home Truths". The Standard. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011.
  7. ↑ Biography of Sir Gordon Wu - website of the Wharton Global Alumni Forum in Hong Kong

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