2. Papa, when are you REALLY retiring?
(Image: Nicolai-Berntsen via Unsplash)
Phrased another way, heirs of family businesses want to ask: When can we take charge? Hong Kong's tycoon Lee Shau Kee, (also fondly known as the fourth Uncle) may have stepped down as chairman of Henderson Land, but he remains an executive director of the company.
The same goes for the previous BEA Bank chief, David Li, who recently announced that he was stepping down from his day-to-day role after 38 years as its chief executive officer. But that doesn’t mean he is retiring completely; the 80-year-old banker, who once served as a member of the Legislative Council as well as the Executive Council, still remains as chairman, a post he has held since 1997.
And for patriarchs that stay a little too long, they may be advised to keep looking over their shoulders. Case in point is the renowned Lotte feud whose 92-year-old group founder, Shin Kyuk-ho, hung around long enough to watch his younger son, Shin Dong-bin, stage a coup d'etat to oust his father.
