Gordon Wu

Sir Gordon Wu Ying-Sheun,^[1] GBS, KCMG, FICE (Chinese: 胡應湘) is a Hong Kong businessman. He is the chairman of the board of Hong Kong-listed Asian infrastructure firm Hopewell Holdings Ltd.

Born in Hong Kong in 1935, Wu has been an advocate for more than two decades for the construction of Asia's largest bridge project linking Hong Kong, Macau and China's Zhuhai city. The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge project was given support by the PRC government in August 2003.

Since the 1980s, Wu has steered Hopewell Holdings towards developing his vision of creating an advanced transport system for China's manufacturing powerhouse in the Pearl River Delta, which includes much of Guangdong province and makes use of its proximity to Hong Kong to access professional services and logistics.

The bridge will span two man-made islands, allowing it to go through an undersea tunnel and let shipping pass. The concept is based on the existing Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia, United States.

Wu has predicted that commercial development in Hong Kong will focus upon the growth of four major pillar industries including retailing, tourism and logistics. He predicts a diminishing role for the property and textiles industries (source: October 2001, Logistics, Hong Kong Productivity Council).

Gordon Wu designed the first Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) project for the China Hotel in 1979, thus 'leading the way' into China. Sir Wu and Hopewell went on to build power plants (Shajiao B and C) and other infrastructure projects in China, using the BOT structure.

Background

Wu studied engineering at the University of Manitoba in 1953, then transferred to Princeton University. Wu graduated from Princeton with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering (B.Sc.Eng.) in 1958, and currently serves as a Trustee for the university. Before that, he attended Wah Yan College, an eminent Jesuit school in Hong Kong.

As one of the founders of Hopewell, he was the managing director from 1972 to 2002. In January 2002, he retired as the managing director of the company but remains as the chairman of the board. He was responsible for Hopewell's infrastructure projects in mainland China and Southeast Asia and has been involved in the design and construction of many buildings and development projects in Hong Kong and mainland China.

In 1984, Wu donated a worth of US$5 million of his company shares to Princeton University and formed a charity fund. Wu also pledged US$100 million to the university, a sum he planned to make available for university use in 2008, on the occasion of his 50th reunion. In a talk given in October 2006, however, Wu revealed intentions of making the contribution available to the university sooner. He completed this pledge, with the last payment in 2006/2007. He is also the chairman of Hopewell Highway Infrastructure Limited, subsidiary of Hopewell listed on August 2003, and an independent non-executive director of i-Cable Communications Limited.

He is Chairman of the Council of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Political stance

Gordon Wu formerly opposed accelerating the development of democracy in Hong Kong. But following the massive protest on 1 July 2003 in Hong Kong, he openly spoke about the possibility of electing the SAR Chief Executive by direct election.

"A small number of people ... are against everything the SAR government wants to do and against everything that's from the central government. "They are also using such slogans as 'uprising' and 'liberation.' These show they have hidden purposes." (Gordon Wu, 4 March 2010)^[2]

Hopewell Holdings

Infrastructure

Hopewell is participating in the investment of five toll road projects with a total length of 360 km, all of which are located in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong Province in mainland China. Four toll road projects are in operation while construction of the 15 km Phase I of the Guangzhou-Zhuhai West Superhighway (Guangzhou to Shunde section) commenced in December 2001. All of the projects are in the form of co-operative joint ventures between Hopewell and China partners.

• Guangzhou-Shenzhen Superhighway
• Guangzhou East-South-West Ring Road
• Shunde Roads
• Shunde 105 Roads
• Guangzhou-Zhuhai West Superhighway

Property

Hopewell's property portfolio is mainly composed of commercial and residential premises in Hong Kong. These consist of more than 3.14 million square feet (292,000 m²) of gross area.

• Hopewell Center
• Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Center
• Nova Taipa Gardens—though this was sold in June 2008 to Hopewell's joint venture partner, Shun Tak Co, HK
• Huanggang Service Area

Hospitality

Hopewell owns hotels in Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

• Panda Hotel
• China Hotel

Management

Sir Gordon's son, Thomas Jefferson Wu, is the managing director of Hopewell Holdings.

Affiliations

Gordon Wu's affiliations in Hong Kong

• Chairman of the Council of Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• Member of Commission on Strategic Development of the Hong Kong SAR
• Member of Hong Kong Logistic Development Council
• Advisor of Urban Renewal Authority
• Member of Hong Kong Trade Development Council
• Vice President of Hong Kong Real Estate Developer's Association

Gordon Wu's affiliations in mainland China

• Member of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
• Advisor of Xiamen Special Economic Zone, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Qinhuangdao

Gordon Wu's international affiliations

• Member of Business Advisory Council to the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group
• Member of APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC)
• Member of International Advisory Board of the Institute for International Business Communication, Japan

Honours and awards

Wu received several honours and awards:^[1][3]

Honours

• Knight of the Order of the Crown (Belgium, 1985)
• Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (KCMG) (United Kingdom, 1997)
• Gold Bauhinia Star (GBS) (Hong Kong, 2004)

Honorary degrees

• Doctor of Engineering (D.Eng.) from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Hong Kong, 1994)
• Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) from the University of Strathclyde (United Kingdom, 1994)
• Doctor honoris causa (dr.h.c.) from the University of Edinburgh (United Kingdom, 1994)
• Doctor honoris causa (dr.h.c.) from the University of Manitoba (Canada, 2012)

Honorary citizenships

• The City of New Orleans, United States
• The City of Guangzhou, PRC
• The City of Shunde, PRC
• The City of Nanhai, PRC
• The City of Shenzhen, PRC
• The City of Hua Du, PRC
• The Province of Quezon, the Republic of the Philippines

Other awards

• Business Man of the Year by South China Morning Post and DHL (1991)
• Asia Corporate Leader by Asia Finance Magazine (1991)
• Among "the Best Entrepreneurs" by Business Week (1994)
• Man of the Year by th International Road Federation(United States, 1994)
• Industry All-Star by Independent Energy (United States, 1996)
• International CEO of the Year by the George Washington University (United States, 1996)
• Leader of the Year in the Business/Finance category by the Sing Tao Daily and The Standard (2003)

Trivia

Gordon Wu Hall at Princeton University

• The world's most expensive truffle, a 1.51 kilogram rare White Alba truffle, was sold for 125,000 Euros (Hong Kong Dollar $1,250,000; US $160,000) on 13 November 2006 to Gordon Wu, who planned a charity dinner party at Toscana Restaurant at Ritz Carlton in Hong Kong. This price beats the previous world record of 95,000 Euros for a 1.21 kilogram White Alba truffle in 2005.
• The dining hall of Princeton University's Butler residential college, built in 1983, is named for Wu. In 1995, Wu pledged a gift of $100 million to Princeton.
• The Science and Mathematics Center at The Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut is named for Sir Gordon Wu's wife, Lady Ivy Kwok Wu.
• The Wah Yan College Cats rescue project is located in an animal shelter on the roof of Gordon Wu Hall, Wah Yan College, Hong Kong.

References

External links

• Hopewell Holdings
• "Whose Interest should Regulators Protect & How?"