Yue-Kong Pao

Yue-Kong Pao

Sir Yue-Kong Pao CBE, JP (Chinese: 包玉剛; pinyin: Bāo Yùgāng), often referred to as "Sir Y.K. Pao" or just "Y.K.", was the founder of Hong Kong's World-Wide Shipping Group which in the 20 years from purchasing its first second-hand ship in 1955 became by far the largest shipping company in the world with over 20 million metric tons deadweight (DWT). Astutely anticipating the seriousness of the shipping downturn starting in the late 1970s he drastically reduced his fleet and was able to pay off associated debt and raise cash to diversify his interests notably through the purchase of a controlling stake in The Hongkong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company Limited (now known as Wharf (Holdings)) and later Wheelock Marden giving an exposure to Hong Kong real estate, shipping terminals, retail, ferries and trams. He was noted for his unmatched access to leaders in both the commercial and political arenas and was equally at ease with Western political leaders and the Chinese leadership in the run up to Hong Kong's ceasing to be a British colony in 1997 (for example Margaret Thatcher wrote the foreword to his biography published in 1990 and he was appointed a Vice Chairman of the Basic Law Drafting Committee planning Hong Kong's constitution after 1997). He was also a generous philanthropist notably in educational projects (helping set up universities, libraries and scholarship schemes). He died in 1991 but his corporate legacy continues to be controlled and run by his family.