Joseph Lau

Joseph Lau was born on 21 July 1951 in Hong Kong. He has a younger brother Thomas and two younger sisters. He had his university education in Canada.

Lau owns a 61% stake in Chinese Estates Holdings.

Lau married Bo Wing-kam (1954–2003) in 1977 and they were divorced in 1992. They had two children: a son, Lau Ming-wai (born 1979 Dec) and daughter Jade Lau Sau-yung (born 1983). In 2008, Lau Ming-wai's wife gave birth to mix twins, they are Lau's eldest grandchildren. Lau Ming-wai, a British citizen, is vice-chairman of Chinese Estates Group and is both chairman of the government's Commission on Youth[9] and on the steering committee of the HK$10 billion Community Care Fund, established in 2010. He was formerly a member of the Commission on Poverty. In 2011, he was part of Henry Tang's election team for the 2012 chief executive election.[10]

Lau had two children with former assistant Kimbie Chan (aka Chan Hoi-wan) – a daughter, Josephine (born 2008) and a son (born 2012).[11] In 2008, Lau became the grandfather of twins. Lau junior acceded to the chairmanship of Chinese Estates following his father's conviction in the court of Macau on bribery charges in 2014; Sue Chan, the elder sister of Lau's girlfriend Kimbie, became the chief executive of the company Lau founded.[12]

In May 2007, Lau was revealed to be among the first seven purchasers of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet for private use.[13]

According to the Sunday Times, Lau owns a collection of 10,000 bottles of red wine, and is an avid art collector.[2][14] On 7 November 2007, he made the top purchase of the evening at a Sotheby's auction by paying $39.2 million for Paul Gauguin's Te Poipoi, a painting of a Tahitian scene.[15]

In 2009, Lau bought a 7.03 carat blue diamond for his daughter Josephine, that he named the "Star of Josephine" at Sotheby's for $9.5 million.[16]

In November 2014, Lau bought a 9.75 carat blue diamond for his daughter Zoe, at Sotheby's for $32.6 million, that he named "Zoe Diamond".[17] He also bought her a Cartier brooch featuring a 10.1 carat ruby,[18] that he named "Zoe Red" at Christie's for $8.4 million.[19]

In November 2015, Lau bought another two expensive diamonds.[8] On 10 November, he bought a 16.08 carat pink diamond at Christie's for $28.5 million.[8] The next day, Lau bought a 12.03 carat blue diamond at Sotheby's for $48.4 million, setting new records for the most expensive jewel sold at auction and the most expensive diamond ever.[8] He subsequently renamed them the "Sweet Josephine" and the "Blue Moon of Josephine" respectively.[8]

On 7 December 2016, Lau married Chan Hoi-wan (Kimbee) at Hong Kong, they have two children.[20] In 2017, citing serious health issues, the business tycoon has transferred his 75% shares in Chinese Estates to his new wife and his son.[21]