Personal Background
Before taking the government post on 1 May 2001, Leung served in senior management positions at big international banks in Hong Kong. He joined Chase Manhattan Corporation in 1996, where he rose to the rank of Asia-Pacific chairman.
He oversaw the Asia-Pacific operation of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., which became the No.2 U.S. bank when commercial bank Chase Manhattan bought Wall Street investment firm J.P.Morgan in 2000. But he was relocated to Singapore right before he resigned from the post.
Leung started his banking career as a currency trader and spent 23 years with Citicorp where he took up regional management positions in investment, corporate and private banking in Hong Kong, New York, Singapore and Manila.
Before taking up the post, he was actively involved in public services. He was an unofficial member of the Executive Council (1997–2001 April) and was responsible for Education Reform when he was the chairman of Education Commission (1998–2001 April). The chair of the Commission was succeeded by Dame Rosanna Wong Yick-ming, the former chairperson of the Housing Authority who resigned before a vote of no confidence in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong following a scandal concerning the improper construction of housing estates under the Home Ownership Scheme.
A successful commercial banker, Leung's soft-spoken manner contrasted markedly with his charismatic predecessor, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, who is now the Chief Executive. Although a more conservative figure than Tsang, he nevertheless had his share of media limelight.
Leung's marriage to Chinese Olympic diving queen Fu Mingxia in July 2002 had Hong Kong's paparazzi in a frenzy. This was Leung's second marriage and a baby, a girl, was born in February 2003. Fu, a three-times Olympic champion in her early 20s, is less than half Leung's age.
Leung was educated in Hong Kong. He received his secondary education in Ying Wa College and holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree, majoring in economics and statistics, from The University of Hong Kong. During his university studies, he actively participated in student activities and was concerned with political issues. It had been a long-term goal of Leung to be Financial Secretary, according to some classmates. He completed the Harvard Business School's Programme in Management Development in 1982 and the Advanced Management Programme in 1999. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 1998.
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