Speaking of the Panama Canal, it can be said that almost no one in the world knows. The Panama Canal has been excavated for more than 200 years, most recently in 2016 when widening works were completed. The Panama Canal is of great strategic importance, because the Panama Canal is the closest road connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, and is known as the seventh largest engineering miracle in the world, when dozens of countries jointly excavated the canal.
Today, 6% of the world's goods have to be transported around the world through the Panama Canal every year. If you pass through the Panama Canal, it takes only 10 hours to get from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, and if you don't pass through the Panama Canal, it takes about 22 days. This is the great significance of the existence of the Panama Canal.
Of course, every ship that passes through the Panama Canal, the panama canal management will charge a certain fee, because a large number of ships pass through the Panama Canal every year, so the management side is equivalent to making tens of billions of dollars per year. According to the data released by the Panama Canal in 2019, the revenue of that year has reached more than 3 billion US dollars, and today the global shipping industry has exploded, and the Panama Canal has made a lot of money this year.
Such a strategic place is certainly also a place where soldiers must fight. Many people may not know that the United States once stationed troops here for a long time, until more than 2 years ago, the United States officially withdrew, ending the 96-year history of garrison here.
Many people do not know that the Panama Canal was originally related to Li Ka-shing, and it also caused a storm that year. In 1996, Li Ka-shing successfully invested in the management of the two ports before and after the Panama Canal, which was managed for 25 years. At that time, Li Ka-shing's investment attracted the attention of americans.
At that time, several high-level U.S. officials expressed concern that Li Ka-shing would gain control of the Panama Canal. At that time, Li Ka-shing was also very nervous, and quickly said in the media that he was just a businessman, that he was just one of the many investors on the Panama Canal, and that he would not compete for control of the Panama Canal.
Subsequently, Panama also supported Li Ka-shing, saying that Li Ka-shing has a lot of ports around the world, and he came to the Panama Canal to invest in container business. So far, Li Ka-shing has invested a lot of money in the Panama Canal, and of course he has made a lot of money himself.
The natural impact of the Panama Canal on Panama's economy is very large, Panama is just a country with a population of 50 million, their GDP is about 70 billion US dollars, and the Panama Canal has contributed about 5% to 10% a year. In addition, the other chain income brought by the Panama Canal is even more numerous, and it is no exaggeration to say that Panama has become rich by relying on the Panama Canal.
Li Ka-shing also owns the free port on the Panama Canal, which is also the most important port on the Panama Canal and one of the most important ports in the world.
Many people only know that Li Ka-shing is the king of real estate, but they do not know that he is also the king of the port. Li Ka-shing controls a total of 52 ports in 26 countries around the world. In Chinese mainland Li Ka-shing has ports in Huizhou, Jiangmen, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xiamen and other places, of which the world's most prosperous container port Yantian Port is in Li Ka-shing's hands.
In 1992, Li Ka-shing invested 6 billion yuan to build Yantian Port. In Addition, in Hong Kong, Li Ka-shing also owns two important ports, Kwai Ching and Tuen Mun. Li Ka Shing's port business throughout Europe, Asia, the Americas and other places, Li Ka Shing is also the world's largest port operator, the world's 10 largest ports, 5 are in the hands of Li Ka Shing, including the famous Port of Fredus in the United Kingdom, also in the hands of Li Ka Shing. Li Ka Shing's 52 ports currently have a total of 319 berths, which can handle nearly 100 million containers per year.
In the port business alone, Li Ka-shing can make about 10 billion yuan in profits every year. In fact, the port business can be said to be Li Ka-shing's most stable business, why do you say so? Although the real estate business is the key to Li Ka-shing's start-up, the cyclical nature of the real estate business is very obvious, and Li Ka-shing's real estate assets are mainly concentrated in China and very few in other countries.
In recent years, Li Ka-shing has been reducing his investment in real estate, and it is clear that he wants to reduce the influence of real estate in his business empire. Although the port business is affected by international trade, in the long run, this business can hardly ever fail, because as long as international trade exists, the value of the port can never be replaced.
Li Ka-shing built a commercial center, which could easily be replaced by other commercial centers, but the port is different. These super-large ports in the core area are difficult to replace, because not every place has the right geographical conditions to build ports, so it is difficult to build a better port nearby. In addition, after the completion of these ports, the supporting road transportation network has been built for many years, and if ports are built in other places nearby, they cannot be built in the short term, so the status of the port is very stable.
Li Ka-shing chose the port business, it can be said that the vision is very unique, many positions are occupied by Li Ka-shing, as long as he does not sell, others have no chance, this is Where Li Ka-shing is strong.
In fact, when you see Li Ka-shing's port empire, you know that Li Ka-shing is the real invisible richest man. Li Ka-shing's assets can be said to be greatly undervalued. If Li Ka-shing's ports are formed into listed companies to go public, the market value is estimated to be too high, because the growth of these businesses is not high. Because there are so many core ports in the world, most of them have been taken down by Li Ka-shing. It will be difficult for him to continue to develop in the future.
In addition to the port, Li Ka-shing also has real estate, telecommunications, oil, gas, electricity and other businesses. Recently, global electricity prices, oil prices, and natural gas prices have soared, and Li Ka-shing has naturally become a winner. Uk electricity prices have soared 7 times, but Li Ka-shing controls 25% of the UK's electricity market, and you can imagine how much money Li Ka-shing can make.
In the first half of this year, Li Ka-shing's Yangtze River Hutchison Industry's profit was 21.4 billion, and it earned 21.4 billion yuan in half a year, but the company's market value was less than 200 billion, which was really unexpected, and the key was that the company's net assets were as high as more than 600 billion, which can be said to be greatly undervalued.
Li Ka-shing's assets are indeed undervalued, and if we talk about real strength, he is definitely the world's richest man. Recently, Tesla boss Musk has become the world's richest man, with a net worth of more than 200 billion US dollars, but if Musk and Li Ka-shing compare cash assets, it is estimated that Musk can't even take out a fraction of Li Ka-shing.