Henry Fok's 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".
1923, 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!
Make the first big money
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, paying special attention to the news of the auction of Japanese heritage materials in the newspaper, rushing to the scene in time, and picking out those valuable ones with the eyes of insiders.
Inspirational Story: Billionaire Henry Fok
Buy in bulk and sell after quick repair. 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.
"Landlord" in Hong Kong
After the War to Resist US 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, and then promote the development of commerce and residence. So he first shifted his business focus to real estate development. 1954 65438+February, Henry fok took out his own10.2 million Hong Kong dollars, and borrowed10.6 million Hong Kong dollars from the bank, which was in Hong Kong.
Wan bought his first building and founded Lixin Construction Real Estate Co., Ltd. At first, like others, he bought the old building with his own money. After tearing it down, he built a new building and sold it layer by layer. Of course, you can make money safely,
However, due to 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 Fok Ying-tung's business place.
This idea suddenly caught fire, breaking the highest record of real estate developers in Hong Kong. When other builders learned to implement this method, Fok Ying-tung had made a huge fortune. 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!
"the king of the sea sand"
Henry fok is also known as the "king of the 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.
Wealth never forgets to give back to society.
After the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, China athletes who won the gold medal visited Hongkong. Fok Ying-tung rewarded visiting gold medalists with a total of about HK$ 28 million.
1992 After the 25th Olympic Games, "Fok Ying Tung Sports Fund" began to allocate funds to reward mainland Olympic athletes and China and Hong Kong athletes who won medals in the Olympic Games. The player who won the gold medal won a pure gold medal weighing one kilogram and a prize of 80 thousand dollars; The runner-up won a gold medal weighing half a kilogram and a prize of $40,000, and the third runner-up won a gold medal weighing 0.25 kilograms and a prize of $20,000.
I remember Mr. Huo once explained, "Donate sports,
Not only because I like sports, but also because sports itself plays an important role in national progress and national prosperity. He pulled his fingers and calculated an account for me: "The state allocates 400 yuan to education every year.
More than a billion, sports is only a billion. Of course, compared with the population of 1 1 billion, it is far from enough to say that education funds are enough, but among overseas Chinese, Hong Kong and Macao compatriots, more people donate money to promote education than to help sports.
A lot. So I am particularly willing to make a small contribution to sports. Over the years, one-fifth of Henry Fok's huge sum donated to China people has been directly donated to sports.