- Hong Kong's billionaire Kwok family is unusually exposed to the sectors hit hardest by the economic unrest from the city's ongoing protests, Bloomberg reported.
- Some of the properties owned by the family's real-estate developer, Sun Hung Kai Properties, have become sites of the protests, according to Bloomberg.
- Several of Hong Kong's other billionaires, including Li Ka-shing and Peter Woo, have also spoken out against the protests, Business Insider previously reported.
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Hong Kong's billionaires have made it no secret that they are ready for the protests that have engulfed the semiautonomous city for 12 weeks to end. However, none may be more frustrated by the unrest than the Kwok family.
The family owns Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's largest real-estate developer. Sun Hung Hai shares have plunged 11% since mid-June, according to Bloomberg. That is two times as much as Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index.
Thousands took to the streets of Hong Kong beginning in July over an extradition bill with mainland China but have since expanded their focus to police actions and their democratic system, Business Insider previously reported.
Hong Kong's richest family is losing more money than other billionaires.
The Kwoks are Asia's second-richest family and the richest family in Hong Kong, with a collective net worth of $38 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Raymond Kwok, Sun Hung Kai's chairman, was worth $13.1 billion on July 21, according to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index. Now his net worth has dropped to $11.4 billion. Thomas Kwok, another family member, who was recently released from a three-year prison sentence for bribery, has seen his net worth drop over $1.5 billion since July 21, according to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index.
The family is unusually exposed to two of the sectors hit hardest by the protests — retail and tourism. The conglomerates owned by other wealthy Hong Kong real-estate moguls, like Li Ka-shing, get their wealth from conglomerates that have interests in other countries and industries. Li, for example, also owns ports, a Canadian oil company, and telephone companies, among other businesses, spread across the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and Panama, according to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index. Sun Hung Kai, however, focuses on building skyscrapers and shopping centers in Hong Kong, Bloomberg reported.
Some of Sun Hung Kai's properties have also become sites of the protests, according to Bloomberg. When protests turned violent at New Town Plaza, an upscale shopping mall owned by Sun Hung Kai, a photo of a woman carrying a Saint Laurent bag stepping over a pool of blood as she fled was widely circulated online.
—Robert John T (@rj_tasker) July 16, 2019
