Entrepreneurs

Lee Shau-kee, Grand Bauhinia Honoror (English: Lee Shau-kee, February 20, 1928 - March 17, 2025), known as the "Fourth Uncle", was a Hong Kong entrepreneur, philanthropist, businessman, and real estate tycoon. He was once the second richest man in Hong Kong, the richest man in Hong Kong, and the richest man in Asia. From 1995 to 1997, he was the fourth richest man in the world. He started business independently at the age of 15, went to Hong Kong for development at the age of 20, founded Henderson Land at the age of 48, and the company went public at the age of 53. He ranked fourth among the world's richest people from 67 to 69 years old. When he retired at the age of 91 in 2019, he ranked 29th on the Forbes Global Rich List. Li Shauji was born in Daliang Town, Shunde, Guangdong. His family was quite wealthy when he was born. His family was engaged in gold, exchange and foreign currency trading in his hometown. From the age of 6 (that is, in 1934), he was arranged by his father to learn how to run the family business. When he was 20 years old (that is, in 1948), he came to Hong Kong alone to start a business with a capital of 1,000 Hong Kong dollars (equivalent to approximately 150,000 Hong Kong dollars based on the 2020 inflation rate) given to him by his father. At the age of 30 (that is, in 1958), Lee Shau Kee, Kwok Desheng and Feng Jingxi, together with Hu Zhaochi, Huang Shaoxuan, Qi Zonghuang, Lu Xianzao and Guo Jintao jointly founded "Yongye Enterprise Company" to engage in real estate business. In 1963, Li, Guo and Feng founded Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited. In 1972, Li, Guo and Feng successfully listed Sun Hung Kai Properties, and the Three Swordsmen decided to separate. In 1973, Lee Shau Kee set up his own business and founded Henderson Land Development Co., Ltd. In 1981, Henderson was officially listed. In 1996, Lee Shau Kee's wealth accumulated to US$12.7 billion, making him the fourth richest person in the world. Lee Shau-kee has been the chairman of the board of directors of Henderson Land Development and Towngas, and was the deputy chairman of the board of directors of Sun Hung Kai Properties until his retirement. On July 1, 2007, Lee Shau Kee was awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal. In 2015, Lee Shau Kee had a net worth of HK$195 billion, ranking second according to the Forbes Hong Kong Rich List. In 2018, Lee Shau Kee's net worth was HK$256.6 billion, ranking second according to the "Forbes Hong Kong Rich List". In March 2019, Lee Shau Kee ranked 26th on Forbes' list of the world's billionaires, with assets reaching US$28.1 billion. He will pass away in 2025, leaving an inheritance of US$30 billion to his five children, charitable trusts and family trusts.

Li Ye (July 11, 1988 -), also known as Melody Tan Tan Yip (English: Melody Tan Tan Yip), entrepreneur, former Hong Kong ice dancer.

Sir Ka-shing Li, Grand Bauhinia Honor, KBE, JP (English: Sir Ka-shing Li, July 29, 1928 -), is a Hong Kong entrepreneur. He was born in Chao'an, Guangdong and grew up in Hong Kong. He has lived in Hong Kong since 1940. He has been the richest man in Asia for many years and has been the richest man in Hong Kong for many years. The Cheung Kong Group (Cheung Kong Holdings) he founded has become one of the largest companies in Hong Kong. On March 16, 2018, the 90-year-old Li Ka-shing and the CK Hutchison Group announced his retirement on May 10 of the same year and became a senior consultant. The chairman of the board of directors of the CK Hutchison Group was succeeded by his eldest son Li Zeju.

Li Shiyu (1855-1917), courtesy name Youxiang, was a native of Tianjin and his ancestral home was Kunshan County, Jiangsu Province (now part of Suzhou). He was a businessman in the late Qing Dynasty. The second generation of the Li family among the Eight Great Families of Tianjin.

Li Jianhong (September 1973-) is a Chinese entrepreneur with right of abode in Hong Kong.

Robin Li (November 17, 1968 -), a native of Yangquan, Shanxi, is an entrepreneur in mainland China. The founder of Baidu, currently Chairman and CEO and Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce. Postgraduate qualification. In 2015, Hurun ranked 47th on the global rich list, with a net worth of US$18 billion.

Li Shuguang (January 1962-), a native of Chongqing, is a Chinese entrepreneur. Graduated from Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, majoring in industrial economic management. He served as Secretary of the Party Committee of Wuliangye Group Co., Ltd., Chairman of Wuliangye Group Co., Ltd., Secretary of the Party Committee of Wuliangye Co., Ltd., and Deputy Chairman of the Economic Committee of the Sichuan Provincial People's Congress.

Li Meng (December 14, 1971 -), male, Han nationality, entrepreneur and politician of the People's Republic of China, served as member of the Standing Committee of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, vice chairman of the Shanxi Provincial Federation of Industry and Commerce, president of Shanxi Antai Group Co., Ltd., and member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Lee Byung-cheol (February 12, 1910 - November 19, 1987), also known as Huyan, was the founder and first president of South Korea's Samsung Group. He was the first president of the Korean Economist Association from 1961 to 1962. He was awarded the Infinite Flower Medal of Korea and the First-class Ruibao Medal of Japan. Lee Byung-cheol was born on February 12, 1910 in Yinyeong County, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea today. He started many businesses in his early years, but they were all destroyed due to force majeure factors such as war and political turmoil. On March 1, 1938, he established the "Samsung Chamber of Commerce" in Daegu and accumulated original capital from trade. After the Korean War, he began to enter the production field and successively founded "CheilJedang Co., Ltd.", "Cheil Wool Spinning Co., Ltd.", "Korea Fertilizer" and other productive enterprises engaged in import substitution. In the 1970s, Li Bingzhe began to enter the electronics industry, first producing home appliances, and then conducting research, development and production of semiconductors. In addition to production and international trade, he also founded cultural institutions such as Dongyang Broadcasting Company, JoongAng Daily, and Hoam Museum of Art, and funded the rescue of Daegu College (the predecessor of today's Yeongnam University) and Sungkyunkwan University, which were in trouble. Lee Byung-cheol is known as the "God of Korean Entrepreneurship" and the "Father of Korean Finance". The Washington Post of the United States called him "Korea's Rockefeller". He pursues the business principles of "serving the country with career", "talent first" and "reasonable pursuit". His employment philosophy is "Don't trust people when you hire them, and don't trust people when you doubt them." In his entrepreneurial practice, he flaunted the principle of "Samsung First" and "have the courage to be the first person."

Li Yongshang (1860-1953) was a shipping industrialist and banker in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.

Li Jinshang (1862-1922), a native of Qipao, Xinhui, was the founder of Lee Kum Kee. Li Jinshang left Qipao in his early years and followed the Pearl River to Xiangshan Nanshui. He invented the oyster sauce making method in Xiangshan Nanshui and established Lee Kum Kee in 1888.

Yang Lan (March 31, 1968 -), native of Shanghai, is a Chinese television host and entrepreneur. Yang Lan graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University with a bachelor's degree in English and American Language and Literature. From 1990 to 1994, he served as the host of CCTV's "Zhengda Variety Show" and won China's first host "Golden Microphone Award" in 1994. After that, he went to the United States for further study, where he studied at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and received a master's degree in international affairs. After returning from studying in the United States, he joined Phoenix TV in Hong Kong and created the first in-depth high-end interview program "Yang Lan Studio" (later changed to "Interviews with Yang Lan") in China. So far, "Interviews with Yang Lan" has interviewed more than 600 famous people around the world and has a high reputation among Chinese-speaking audiences around the world. In 1999, Sunshine Media Group was founded by Wu Zheng and Ms. Yang Lan. In 2000, Yang Lan and her husband Wu Zheng founded Sunshine TV, the first historical and humanities TV channel in Greater China. In 2005, Yang Lan founded Tianxia Women, a talk show mainly targeting Chinese urban women, and has since developed into an interactive cross-media women's community using television, the Internet, and education and training as platforms. Yang Lan is the co-founder and chairman of Sunshine Media Group and Sunshine Culture Foundation.

Jack Patrick Dorsey (English: Jack Patrick Dorsey, November 19, 1976 -), American software engineer, technology entrepreneur and businessman, co-founder of Twitter, founder and CEO of Block (formerly known as Square). As of September 2026, Forbes estimates Jack Dorsey's net worth to be approximately $7.6 billion.

John Francis "Jack" Welch, Jr. (English: John Francis "Jack" Welch, Jr., November 19, 1935 - March 1, 2020), also translated as Jack Welch, was an American entrepreneur who served as the eighth CEO of General Electric (GE, General Electric) from 1981 to 2001. During his tenure, he increased the company's revenue to $410 billion, and was known as "Neutron Jack".

Jack Ruby, whose original name was Jacob Leon Rubenstein (March 25, 1911 - January 3, 1967), was renamed Jack Leon Ruby in 1947 and was the murderer of Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald was widely considered to be the assassin of President Kennedy. Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Ruby opened a nightclub in Dallas, Texas. Convicted of murder on March 14, 1964, he fell ill and died of lung cancer on January 3, 1967. Ruby had been a key figure in organized crime; conspiracy theorists claimed that he killed Oswald as part of the JFK assassination. Others were skeptical, saying he was a minor player at best, the kind of person who would be used in a larger conspiracy.

Jeffrey Hawkins (June 7, 1957 -), nicknamed Jeff, was born in Huntington, Long Island, New York, United States. He is an American inventor, computer scientist and neuroscientist. He led the development of Palm and Treo, and was the founder of Palm Company and Handspring Company.

James "Jamie" Dimon (English: James "Jamie" Dimon, born March 13, 1956), American billionaire, banker and business executive, currently Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase (since 2006). As of November 2024, Forbes estimates his net worth at $2.6 billion. Dimon began his career as a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group. In 1982, after receiving his MBA from Harvard Business School, he joined American Express and worked under the guidance of Sandy Weill. In 1986, at the age of 30, Dimon was appointed chief financial officer (CFO) of Primerica and later became the company's president. From 1990 to 1998, he served as chief operating officer (COO) of Travelers Insurance Company and Citigroup Smith Barney. In 1998, he became president of Citigroup. In 2000, Dimon was appointed CEO of Chicago Bank One, where he ran the company until its merger with JPMorgan Chase in 2004. After the merger, Dimon became JPMorgan Chase's chief operating officer and became CEO in 2006. Dimon served on the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in the late 2010s. Since then, he has served on the boards of the Business Roundtable, the Bank Policy Institute and Harvard Business School. Dimon was named to Time magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People in the World" in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011.

Sir Demis Hassabis, CBE, FREng, FRSA (English: Sir Demis Hassabis, July 27, 1976 -), British artificial intelligence researcher. In 2024, he and John Jungper won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their contributions to the field of protein structure prediction.

Matsushita Shoharu (September 17, 1912 - July 16, 2012) was a Japanese industrialist who once served as the president of Matsushita Electric and was the mother-in-law of the founder Konosuke Matsushita. Born in Tokyo Prefecture (now Tokyo).

Lin Shaoji (?—?) was a native of Min County (now Fuzhou), Fujian, and a businessman in the late Qing Dynasty.

Charles Goodyear (English: Charles Goodyear, December 29, 1800 - July 1, 1860) was born in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. He was an American businessman and the inventor of vulcanized rubber. Died in New York City. Goodyear worked to invent chemical techniques to create flexible, waterproof, moldable rubber. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, the fifth largest tire manufacturer in the world, is named in honor of Goodyear.

Charles Thomas Munger (English: Charles Thomas Munger, January 1, 1924 - November 28, 2023) was an American entrepreneur and billionaire who served as the chief vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Investment Holdings.

Liu Zhongliang (1906-1963), male, was born in Yinxian County, Zhejiang Province. He was an early Chinese film industry entrepreneur and a pioneer of the Chinese film industry. Former boss of Shanghai Cathay Film Company.

Yanai Tadashi (Japanese: Yanai Masa/No way however, Romanized: Yanai Tadashi, February 7, 1949 -) is a Japanese entrepreneur. He was born in Chuo Town, Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. He graduated from the Department of Political Economics of Waseda University. He became the richest man in Japan in 2009. He started by operating the clothing store chain UNIQLO. In 2009, his total wealth was worth 570 billion yen, making him one of the 40 richest people in Japan. In 2013, he became Japan's richest man again with US$15.5 billion. His most important philosophy of success is his international outlook. From the beginning when he envisioned the American-style warehouse-store integration model, to later seeing the potential of China's production base in the 1980s when information was less circulated and taking the lead in moving overseas, until he established his foothold in the late 1990s and immediately opened up the markets in Hong Kong, South Korea, and Europe. It can be seen that he attaches great importance to internationalization, so that he can carve out another niche in the relatively closed traditional Japanese business world, and finally rise first in the era of globalization. The Yanai family ranked 41st on Forbes' 2019 billionaire list, with assets reaching US$22.2 billion. In 2019, at the age of 70, Yanai Masaru stated that he would resign as chairman and president. The founder of the Japanese fast fashion giant will soon abdicate.