In May 2018, Li Ka-shing officially announced his retirement, and his second heir, the eldest son, Li Zeju, took over as the chairman of Cheung Kong Industrial Group.
In the same month, the third heir, Li Side, became the director of Tsz Son Temple in Tai Po;
In December 2018, Li Side took up the position of director of the family business Mega Properties.
And who is this Li Side?
She is the eldest daughter of Li Ka-shing's eldest son, Li Zeju, who is also the eldest granddaughter of Li Ka-shing.
As the eldest granddaughter of the Lee family, Li Side has been well protected from childhood to adulthood, rarely appearing in public in front of the media.
Even if it is captured by the media, it is fully armed, masks, sunglasses, duck-tongue hats are all in line, and it is completely impossible to see the appearance.
Even the media only saw the true face of Lushan when Li Ka-shing brought Li Side to the press conference in 2017.
The reason why Li Ka-shing is so careful about the whereabouts and identity of his descendants is actually inextricably linked to an old past.
In January 1996, this was the day Li Side (formerly known as Li Yanning) was born, as the first child born among his grandchildren, Li Side can be described as a collection of thousands of pampered children.
At this time, Li Ka-shing did not have much opinion on the public appearance of his descendants in front of the media, until an incident four months later, which made him have a strict protection measure for the privacy of his children and grandchildren.
On May 23, 1996, Li Ka-shing's eldest son, Li Zeju, sat in the car as usual, and there were only two people in the car, he and the driver, when the car drove to a corner, he was suddenly forced to stop by a van parked in the middle of the road.
At this time, a group of kidnappers led by Zhang Ziqiang came down from the van, and they picked up the hammer and smashed the front windshield of the vehicle in which Li Zeju was riding, and then dragged Li Zeju to the van and tied him up.
Before leaving, the driver was left to bring a message to Li Ka-shing: As long as the money is in place, Li Zeju is very safe.
After that, Zhang Ziqiang personally talked to Li Ka-shing on the phone, and also went to Li House with explosives tied to his body to negotiate with Li Ka-shing on the terms: asking for 2 billion Hong Kong dollars.
In the end, because Li Ka-shing's cash flow was not enough for 2 billion, the two sides negotiated a ransom of 1.038 billion, and after getting the ransom, Zhang Ziqiang also happily released Li Zeju back home.
Since then, Li Ka-shing has not only upgraded the security facilities of the Li House, but also kept the whereabouts of future generations private, and even accompanied by bodyguards throughout the trip.
Therefore, Li Side was well hidden by Li Ka-shing from childhood to adulthood, and even the always shrewd media reporters did not photograph her face until Li Ka-shing planned to retire and let her granddaughter take over the family business.
After that, the media dug up some of Li Side's information. According to media reports, Lee Sid studied at Hankey International School in Hong Kong. This is a private international school in Hong Kong, and Lee Sid has achieved excellent results during his time in school, which is very popular with teachers and classmates.
Later, Li Side chose to study abroad and studied law at King's College London, ENGLAND.
During his time in school, he performed very well, and was able to write for the school magazine and serve as a Chinese editor; Martial arts can ride horses and shoot arrows, and they are proficient in everything.
In July 2017, after graduating from King's College London, Li Sid returned to Hong Kong, and to celebrate the return of his eldest granddaughter, Li Ka-shing gave Li sid a mansion worth about 1.5 billion Hong Kong dollars.
In October of the same year, Li Ka-shing brought his granddaughter to the press conference, which was also the first time that Li Side made a public appearance in front of the media, at which Li Ka-shing said that Li Side would inherit one-third (70 billion) of his family property and would soon be the director of Tsz Son Temple in Tai Po.
In May 2018, Li Ka-shing officially announced his retirement. In May of the same year, Li Side became the director of Tsz Son Temple, Tai Po;
On December 17 of the same year, Li Side took up the position of director of the family business Mega Real Estate;
On 3 September 2020, Li Side became a director of the Li Ka Shing Foundation;
In addition, Li Side is also involved in the Canadian uranium ore energy company invested by Li Ka-shing. She was only 24 years old.
The starting point is different between people, and the end point is different. Li Side was born with a golden key from an early age, and although her identity and the huge wealth she possessed made many people envious, it was precisely because they had more than most people, and they put in more efforts and suffered consequences than most ordinary people.
As the third heir of the family, Li Ka-shing must be very strict with his granddaughter's academic, moral conduct, financial and business, interpersonal relationships and other requirements.
Although the descendants of the rich have a higher starting point than ordinary people, they also need to bear most of the things that ordinary people cannot bear, their lives may not be free, and even some rich descendants can't even help themselves from marriage.
Rich people are rich, but they are not necessarily free; We are ordinary, but very free.
Resources:
China News Network ——(Li Ka-shing trains the third generation of baton takeovers, granddaughter intends to become a director of the family company)
China Net——(Li Ka-shing began to cultivate a third-generation successor, 23-year-old eldest granddaughter Li Side exposed)