Henry Fok's Legendary Life: From Coal Miner to Hong Kong Landlord's Tragic Childhood. Among the billionaires in Hong Kong and Taiwan, Henry Fok is the most popular. This is not only because his personal assets are about 65.438+03 billion Hong Kong dollars, but also because he was elected as the vice chairman of the CPPCC in 654.38+0993! However, Henry Fok's background may be the most bitter among billionaires! His ancestral home is Panyu, Guangdong, but since his grandfather, the whole family has left the land and lived on the sampan for many years. They are called "sampan" and even "water firewood" and "furniture". /kloc-in the autumn of 0/922, Henry fok was born on such a sampan. His first name was Huo Zhaohao, and later he changed his name to Huo Guantai. After the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the young man changed his name to Yingdong, which means "heroic and vigorous in the east of the world"! Fok Ying-tung's parents rely on a small barge to do lighterage business in Hong Kong, that is, from a large freighter that can't dock, they unload the goods on their own barge and transport them to the shore dock. When Henry Fok was seven years old, his father was drowned in a typhoon because of capsizing. Unexpectedly, after more than 50 days, the Huo family's boat capsized in the sea again, and the two brothers were buried in the belly of the fish, and even the bodies were not fished out! Mother grabbed a plank desperately, but was saved by a passing fishing boat. At that time, Henry Fok escaped the disaster because he was not on the boat looking for wild oysters by the sea. Henry fok found his first job as a coal miner on an old ferry. However, his body is too thin to shovel coal and open the oven door. He was fired as soon as he took office. At that time, Henry fok, as the saying goes, "unlucky people have a toothache when drinking water." However, the hardships and setbacks in the early years did not defeat Fok Ying-tung. He gained experience through repeated failures, accumulated strength and waited for opportunities. He firmly believes that he will rise one day! After World War II, Henry Fok finally seized an opportunity to make a fortune with keen eyes. After the Japanese invaders surrendered, they left a lot of machinery and equipment, which were very cheap, but they could be used with a little repair and sold at a good price. Henry fok wanted to do this kind of business, so he became a newspaper fan. He paid special attention to the news of the auction of Japanese surplus materials in the newspaper, rushed to the scene in time, picked out those valuable ones with industry eyes, bought them in large quantities, and quickly repaired them and sold them. For lack of funds, it is difficult for him to go all out. On one occasion, he took a fancy to a batch of machines and won the bid with HK$ 65,438+800,000. A factory owner also took a fancy to the goods and was willing to pay HK$ 40,000 to buy them from him. Fok Ying-tung earned a net profit of HK$ 22,000, which was the biggest sum of money he earned in those years and also accumulated initial capital for him. After the "landlord" war in Hong Kong to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea, Henry Fok predicted that the prosperity of Hong Kong's shipping industry would inevitably lead to the development of finance and trade, thus promoting the development of commercial and residential buildings. So he first shifted his business focus to real estate development. 1954 65438+In February, Henry Fok took out his own10.2 million Hong Kong dollars, and borrowed10.6 million Hong Kong dollars from the bank, bought his first building in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, and founded Lixin Construction Real Estate Co., Ltd. At first, like others, he used his own money to buy old buildings, and then built new ones. Of course, this can make money safely, but because of insufficient funds, the development is relatively slow. An accidental event inspired Henry Fok, who decided to build a new house by pre-selling the property and using the deposit of prospective buyers! This pioneering work made Henry Fok's real estate business shine suddenly, breaking the highest record of Hong Kong's real estate business in one fell swoop. When other builders learned to implement this method, Henry Fok had made a lot of money. He became the chairman of the Hong Kong Real Estate Developers Association, which has 300 members and owns 70% of the construction business in Hong Kong. So some people call Henry Fok a local tyrant in Hong Kong! Henry fok, the "king of the sea sand", also has a nice name called "king of the sea sand", which also comes from his innovation in management. In the 1960s, Hong Kong businessmen rarely entered the sand washing industry, because it required a lot of labor, large investment and relatively little profit. However, Fok Ying-tung foresaw that the sand washing industry would also develop greatly from the broad prospects of the construction industry, so he boldly ate this "crab". 196 1 At the end of the year, he imported a large dredger from Thailand and named it "Yourong No.4". After Hong Kong's economic take-off, high-rise buildings have mushroomed, and there is a great demand for yellow sand as a building material. Therefore, Fok Ying-tung's sand-washing fleet has become another "cash cow" for him. China, the first to invest in the mainland, took the lead in actively starting a business in the mainland, from Guangzhou White Swan Hotel to China Hot Spring Hotel, from expressway to Bridge, from Sports Fund to Welfare Fund for the Disabled, from Jinan University to Yingdong Swimming Pool ... Henry Fok devoted himself to developing Nansha Port on the west bank of the Pearl River in his later years, and devoted great efforts to it. Nansha project has made great contributions to connecting Hong Kong, supporting the economic construction of the Pearl River Delta and Guangdong, especially promoting the prosperity of the west bank of the Pearl River Delta.