Shui On’s Vincent Lo, uncrowned ‘King of Guangxi’, still hungry to out-Trump his rivals
He broke away from the family fold at just 23 to form his own business, and now the fourth of nine children is set to hand over the reins of his burgeoning property empire to his daughter
Inside Vincent Lo Hong-shui’s office in the Shui On Centre in Wan Chai, traditional Chinese art lines the walls, and Lo rather favours wearing traditional Mandarin collared suits.
But in a corporate culture that prefers male heirs, he has left tradition behind in just appointing his daughter, Stephanie, as executive director and heir apparent.
She has more than 14 years of experience in property development in mainland China, and is also executive director of Shui On Management (SOM) and the vice-chairman of China Xintiandi (CXTD). Both SOM and CXTD are subsidiaries.
In person, Vincent’s sophisticated and genteel demeanour rather successfully hides what is obviously a combative gambling streak and fierce willingness to take big risks.
The fourth of nine children – five brothers and three sisters – he has been the most determined to carve out a path of his own.
In 1971, aged just 23, he founded Shui On Group to pursue his own ambitions outside the family business founded by his father, Great Eagle Holdings.
“We were brought up to be fairly independent, to all do our own thing,” he once said in a 2015 interview.
