Who is (was) this creature? Any HongKong Tong knows her Chinese name?
Nina Wang, 69; Headed Hong Kong Business Empire
By Adam Bernstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 5, 2007; B08
Nina Wang, 69, who became one of Asia's richest women after inheriting a fortune from her missing husband's estate and was a media sensation during a subsequent, often lurid, fight for control of his business empire, died April 3 in Hong Kong. She reportedly had ovarian cancer.
This year, Forbes magazine listed her fortune at $4.2 billion, making her one of the most powerful, if peculiar, business figures in the world.
She gained prominence in her own right in 1990 after her husband, Teddy, disappeared, reportedly at the hands of gangsters. She used her power of attorney and position as company co-director to guide the growth of Chinachem, a real estate and chemical conglomerate started by her husband's father.
For years, she resisted attempts to declare her husband dead. She said she was grief-stricken but doing so also kept her in control of the business. Until he was legally pronounced dead in 1999, she was accused of using her income to buy more shares of Chinachem to prevent her father-in-law -- and chief adversary -- from resuming power.
Chinachem, the largest privately held real estate company in Hong Kong, has hundreds of high-rise office and apartment towers. Its holdings also include a Taiwan shipping company, meat-packing plants in China and entertainment companies in Asia and North America. Mrs. Wang had ambitions to erect the tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong -- at 108 stories -- and name it the Nina Tower, but planning authorities foiled the idea in 2001 because of height restrictions near the airport. A scaled-down version of the Nina Tower is under construction.
Mrs. Wang was one of the most mysterious and discussed people in Hong Kong and beyond. A workaholic who professed to be shy, she was dubbed "Little Sweetie" after a Japanese comic character because of her fondness for colorful micro-miniskirts ("because I have great legs"), dyed hair and pigtails that shot out of her head like antennae. A pixieish 5 feet tall, she kept her German shepherd, Wei Wei, close by.
She commissioned a comic book about her escapades to capitalize on her notoriety, yet she was said to lead a simple life in many ways. She favored KFC chicken and McDonald's fish sandwiches over posh nightspots, and cheap clothes over chic designs.
Kung Yu-sum was born Sept. 29, 1937, in Shanghai, where her father worked in the customs and excise department and her mother was a doctor.
At 11, she began dating Wang Din-shin's 16-year-old son, who was later known as Teddy. Wang Din-shin was a chemical and import businessman who moved the business that became Chinachem to Hong Kong after World War II.
Nina and Teddy Wang, who married in 1955, became majority shareholders of Chinachem. Teddy Wang helped turn his father's business into a larger concern. Chinachem especially prospered by buying inexpensive land in the New Territories region of Hong Kong and building housing during a huge population spurt in the 1970s.
The Wangs became one of the leading couples in the Hong Kong business orbit. They also were cautious because their wealth made them targets of extortionists and kidnappers.
In April 1983, Wang was taken hostage in his Mercedes on his way to the office. He was bound and gagged and chained for days. Mrs. Wang agreed to an $11 million ransom. The gang was later arrested after Wang told police that he saw a sticker that read "Jesus Loves You" on the van that took him, and that he remembered the first two letters of the license plate.
Wang, known as a skinflint, was said to have scolded his wife for paying too much. They were both noted for stingy behavior, with one report suggesting they never returned Tupperware borrowed from friends.
Wang was in the same Mercedes when he was kidnapped after leaving Hong Kong's prestigious Jockey Club in 1990. Mrs. Wang paid $34 million as a first installment of the $60 million the kidnappers demanded. Her husband never reappeared.
A later report suggested that gangsters took Wang and tossed him from a motorboat into the South China Sea to elude police during a water chase. Although there were many arrests, no one was charged with the kidnapping, and a body was never found.
Mrs. Wang assumed control of her husband's fortune and of Chinachem, eventually holding nearly all of the company's shares.
Her father-in-law, Wang Din-shin, took her to court. He said he had been his son's sole beneficiary since 1968, when he alleged that his son hired a detective to follow his wife and found her having an affair with a warehouse manager. Wang Din-shin later said his daughter-in-law had a "wicked heart."
Mrs. Wang rarely spoke in public about the legal dispute and used a lawyer to accuse her father-in-law of keeping a concubine -- banned in Hong Kong since the 1960s -- and smoking opium. He admitted to both at trial.
Mrs. Wang said her husband revised his will a month before he disappeared in 1990 and gave her control over everything. This was reputedly witnessed by a butler, who soon died of natural causes.
"One life, one love," the 1990 document said in one florid passage. "She is the one I love most in this world. After my death, all my property, even my body, belongs to my wife."
The battle over the revised will's authenticity continued, at one point consuming 172 days of legal proceedings, Hong Kong's longest civil trial. A Hong Kong court ruled in 2002 that the 1990 will was a fake "probably" forged by Nina Wang.
The judge was skeptical of why Wang would draw up a will without a lawyer and use romantic language. Wang Din-shin testified his son was too business-like to do that, and the judge agreed.
In 2005, five judges on Hong Kong's top court reversed the lower court ruling and granted Mrs. Wang the estate once and for all. She also was cleared of forgery charges brought by prosecutors.
She enjoyed watching films, particularly westerns and Elvis Presley musicals.
Who is Nina Wang?
是不是她?
亚洲女首富龚如心病逝 留下300亿
亚洲女首富、香港华懋集团主席龚如心4月3日病逝
http://www.jfdaily.com 2007-4-5 稿件来源:解放网―每日经济新闻
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亚洲女首富去了。香港华懋集团昨日(4日)发布声明称,集团主席龚如心已于3日在香港养和医院病逝世,享年七十岁,有关葬礼事宜将另行公布。
龚如心的私人助理王礼泉昨天向《每日经济新闻》证实了龚如心逝世的消息,但他并没有透露龚如心300多亿港元遗产的继承情况。而受龚如心逝世影响,持有23%股权的安宁控股昨天急挫17.5%,包括新世界发展主席郑裕彤、新鸿基地产(0016)副主席郭炳联等香港商届人士对龚如心逝世都感到惋惜及哀痛。
【噩耗・股价】
持股公司股价急跌
昨天,华懋集团主席龚如心的私人助理王礼泉在发给《每日经济新闻》的声明中证实,龚如心是在3日晚因病逝世,家人亦陪伴在左右。此前香港有报道称,龚如心罹患了癌症,但一直都没有得到华懋集团的证实。
在电话中,王礼泉同时也表示,华懋是一家相当大的集团,有不少人负责各项工作,相信袭如心离世不会对公司运作造成大影响。至于治丧委员会的安排,会于稍后再作公布。
据了解,去世前,龚如心一直担任香港华懋集团主席。昨天在华懋集团的网站上华懋集团相关产业和管理层之类的资讯一概空白,公布的也只是一大堆在销楼盘和高级商厦的介绍。然而从“炒房子”起飞的华懋集团如今已俨然成为一个巨无霸式的集团企业,从主业地产拓展到商场、娱乐、酒店、保险、零售和IT等领域。
而受龚如心逝世影响,龚如心持有23%股权的安宁控股(0128.HK)昨日大部分时收市价在0.63港元左右,但3个小时过后突然急跌,报收0.52港元,急挫17.5%,成交4071万港元。昨天,香港证券业有关人士表示,由于龚如心逝世,令香港华懋集团可能注入如心广场的交易添上变数,华懋集团借壳安宁控股上市的可能也增添不明朗因素。
对于龚如心的逝世,昨天,香港地产届人士纷纷表示惋惜和哀痛。在接受《每日经济新闻》采访时,新世界发展(0017)主席郑裕彤表示,对她病逝消息感到突然。“对她的离世感到惋惜及哀痛。”新鸿基地产(0016)副主席郭炳联也同样表达了哀悼。
【悬念・继承】
巨额遗产去向成悬念
从公开披露出来的资料显示,华懋集团分别持有安宁控股(0128.HK)、丹枫控股(0271.HK)、博富临(0225.HK)及时富金融(8122.HK)四家香港上市公司股份。最近龚如心还认购了中信1616集团(1883.HK)的首次公开募股。在今年3月9日公布的《福布斯》全球富豪榜中,龚如心以42亿美元排名第204,而外届传言她持有华懋90%的股份。
据了解,上世纪90年代,龚如心与公公王廷歆为争夺亡夫王德辉300多亿港元遗产而展开的历时8年的诉讼曾轰动一时。2005年,香港特区终审法院判决龚如心胜诉,成为300多亿港元遗产的唯一受益人。由于龚如心与丈夫王德辉膝下并无子女,龚如心死后,关于其巨额遗产的继承,会不会又上演另外一番争夺呢?
王礼泉昨天并未透露龚如心的遗产具体数目,而对龚如心对遗产作何种处理,王礼泉以“现在忙于治丧委员会的安排,其他不便透露”为由拒绝透露任何信息。
【传奇・小甜甜】
叱咤商海五十载“小甜甜”富过英女王
龚如心1937年出生于上海,她在二三岁时即认识丈夫王德辉,二人自幼青梅竹马。1955年,18岁的龚如心与王德辉在香港完婚,后迅即加入由王廷歆在1940年代创办的香港华懋集团。20世纪50年代初,王廷歆将业务由上海迁移至香港,1961年华懋集团开始全力向房地产发展。20世纪60至70年代,华懋集团在王德辉的掌舵下渐见规模,王廷歆逐渐淡出。
而在与丈夫王德辉一起创业生涯中,夫妇二人使华懋集团成为目前香港最大的私营地产商之一。
创业初期夫妇俩看准了地产业的发展前景,将业务的主要方面转向地产。夫妇二人在香港经济低潮时摸准最底层和最广大的消费者需求,开发新界地区,在香港沙田建造了大量大众住宅。他们充分发挥善于经营的特长,由卖地、建房至销售、租赁、管理、设立财务,一家独揽,而且向买方提供按揭分期付款服务。可以说,华懋在地产界的这种经营方法,在当时开了香港地产界先河。这一成功举措使华懋集团飞速发展,奠定了在香港地产界的地位。如今,华懋集团从主业从地产拓展到生化、娱乐、酒店、工贸和IT等领域。
目前龚如心持有多家香港上市公司股份,身家丰厚,并连续多年入选《福布斯》全球富豪榜。在今年3月9日公布的《福布斯》全球富豪榜中,龚如心排行以42亿美元排名第204,是亚洲第一女富豪。英国媒体则将其称为“财富五倍于英女皇的女人”。
而由于脸上时常挂着由衷的微笑,充满活力,再加上常以“超短裙+羊角辫”招牌装束自己,龚如心常被媒体称作“小甜甜”。
【上海・情结】 情系上海投资内地
上世纪90年代初,港商掀起第一波投资内地地产热,包括长实、新鸿基、恒基等香港地产巨头都开始在北京市中心地带兴建标志性物业。龚如心感兴趣的是当年华懋起家的上海。
1991年,受上海市政府的邀请,龚到上海考察房地产项目,接触“西郊宾馆”等项目,但谈判都因对方“不拿基本条件出来,也不拿图样给看”而无法继续。
1994年,华懋集团欲投资1亿美元重建上海“和平饭店”(即解放前的华懋饭店),后因拆迁问题迟迟不能解决而放弃,转建华懋和平大厦。
而在遗产案中,华懋集团进军西部、及进军内地电影市场开设迷你电影院和参与上海崇明岛开发等内地投资项目,不得已而停滞。
1992年,受当地政府邀请,龚如心到河南考察,并先后投资河南华懋电力有限公司、双汇实业(集团)有限公司、沁阳华懋铝业有限公司等,投资总额逾4亿元人民币。其中双汇在华懋投资前,濒临破产,华懋投资一年后就拿到了红利3000多万元。现在,双汇已成为国内最大的肉制品企业。
据了解,从1990年以来,华懋集团在内地累计投资额远在10亿港元之上,主要投资于高科技农业、生化制药和IT领域,投资地域分散于上海、广州、河南、新疆等。
【遗产・纠纷】
“世纪遗产案”拉锯8年终胜诉
1983年年初,王德辉与龚如心驾车上班途中,被几名匪徒手持刀、枪绑架。匪徒再绑架王德辉后,把龚如心释放回家。事后,龚如心以1100万美元才换使王德辉安全脱身。此次绑架案也使王德辉和龚如心一夜成名,真正成为公众焦点人物。
1990年,旧剧重演,王德辉第二次被绑票,当这次被绑架后,王德辉没有像上次幸运。在龚如心在交付完绑匪要求的6000万美元的赎金后,却没能换回丈夫,王德辉从此杳无音讯。
1999年9月,香港法院判决法庭准许王德辉父亲王廷歆宣布王德辉法律死亡。龚如心在失夫的悲痛之中承担起华懋集团的全部生意。然而围绕王德辉遗留的遗产,龚如心和王廷歆展开了为期8年的“世纪遗产争夺案”。
遗产问题争夺中,龚如心曾两度败诉。
王廷歆拿出王德辉1968年立的一份遗嘱:全部遗产归其父亲所有;而龚如心又拿出王德辉在1990年被绑架前的遗嘱:遗产归龚如心所有。围绕后一份遗嘱中王德辉签名的真伪,展开了诉讼。
2002年高等法院裁定,龚如心持有的王德辉遗嘱是伪造的,她一度被警方拘捕。2003年9月,龚如心向香港高等法院上诉法庭提起上诉,2004年6月,上诉庭仍判定龚如心败诉。
2005年7月,香港终审法院开庭。法官团由两名常任法官及三名非常任法官组成。2005年9月16日,香港终审法院五位法官确认龚如心出示的在1990年3月12日由王德辉立下的遗嘱才是其最后遗嘱,一致裁定龚如心可合法继承王德辉估值近400亿港元的遗产。