SHK Prop Chief Forced To Take Leave: Director

Source : The Business Times, March 4, 2008

Feud among Kwok brothers prompted mum to intervene, says Lee Shau-kee

A BOARD member of Hong Kong property giant Sun Hung Kai Properties has confirmed that chairman Walter Kwok Ping-sheung was forced by his mother to take leave from the company, fuelling suspicion of a family rift.

Speaking in Shanghai, family friend and non-executive director of the firm Lee Shau-kee told reporters over the weekend that Mr Kwok's friendship with a woman had triggered a clash between his two younger brothers, causing the mother to take action.

The chairman took a sudden leave of absence from Sun Hung Kai last month, prompting speculation of a feud among the brothers. Mr Kwok cited pressing travel arrangements for his decision.

Mr Lee says he took part in a board meeting via a teleconference in which the three brothers clashed. This then led the mother to step in and ask the elder Kwok to move aside.

'I took part at the board meeting,' Mr Lee was quoted in the South China Morning Post as saying. 'I would not say they quarrelled. It is normal that people have different views. But then their mother stepped in and asked Walter to take leave and take a rest. She just did not want to see the brothers' relations strained.'

The local press in Hong Kong has been in a frenzy since the news broke, printing graphic details of Mr Kwok's alleged relationship with the female friend.

The reports would come as a blow to the Kwok family, well known for its conservative public presence and values, as well as its good standing in the community. Some members of the Kwok family are known as regular churchgoers, and the family has always shied from controversy.

The family manages to stay relatively low key in a city where tycoons are treated like movie stars.

Walter Kwok took over as Sun Hung Kai group chairman in November 1990 following the death of his father, Kwok Tak-seng. Today, the Kwok brothers rank as third on Forbes' Greater China rich list, with an estimated net worth of US$14 billion.

Mr Lee said Mr Kwok's female friend had no formal role in the company. He said, however: 'She sometimes gives Walter advice. It was inevitable some gossip would come out.' It is allegedly the woman's role in the company which has angered the two other brothers, vice-chairman Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong and managing director Raymond Kwok Ping-luen.

Mr Lee said: 'Sometimes, your friend can influence you more than your mother.' Other tycoons waded into the fray at the weekend, with casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun quoted in the Hong Kong Standard as offering advice to the troubled chairman.

Mr Ho was reported as saying that the elder Kwok should listen to his mother and patch up the relationship with his brothers.

The scandal seems to have had minimal effect on the company, with analysts expecting things to work out in the future. BOC International research director Allan Ng said: 'I don't think it will have any serious impact ... the mother is still there, so she can obviously keep things under control. She's obviously very much still in the driving seat.'

Walter Kwok remains an executive director in a number of other listed companies, and is a standing committee member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

The tycoon was reportedly one of several billionaires kidnapped in 1997 by notorious gangster Cheung Tze-keung, otherwise known as 'Big Spender'. These reports have never been confirmed by the family.