{"id":21598,"date":"2019-10-23T02:07:51","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T09:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/?p=21598"},"modified":"2019-10-23T02:31:38","modified_gmt":"2019-10-23T09:31:38","slug":"hong-kong-in-for-a-surprise-as-homegrown-billionaire-secretly-acquires-taiwans-landmark-property","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/hong-kong-in-for-a-surprise-as-homegrown-billionaire-secretly-acquires-taiwans-landmark-property\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong In For A Surprise As Homegrown Billionaire Secretly Acquires Taiwan\u2019s Landmark Property"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The\ncity of Hong Kong woke up to shocking news recently. Taiwan’s most prestigious\nluxury hotel, the Mandarin Oriental Taipei, found its ownership had officially\nchanged hands at the end of last month, following a generous transaction of US$1.24\nbillion, Taiwan Economic Daily News\nreports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mandarin Oriental Taipei, the most prestigious and luxurious hotel in Taiwan. (Source: Mandarin Oriental Taipei Website)<\/strong> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The\nhotel \u2013 which is one of the most iconic hospitality properties in Asia \u2013 has\nbeen awarded the highest 5 Red Pavilions award by the Michelin Guide Taipei\n2018. It plays host to bigwig clients, which include movie stars, politicians,\nand business tycoons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nits interview with the press, the hotel management \u2013 then led by businessman\nLin Ming-chun of Kai Tai Fung International Co Ltd \u2013 declined to confirm who\nthe anonymous buyer had been. Speculations floated that the buyer could only be\none of Hong Kong\u2019s super-rich businessmen or businesswomen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insurance Heir Stuns All\nin An Extravagant Purchase<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The name of the mystery buyer finally came to light this month, and the news has surprised many throughout Greater China. The man behind the acquisition is the owner and Chief Executive Officer of the world\u2019s leading life insurance brokering company R.E. Lee International<\/a> \u2013 Calvin Lo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Despite actively shying away from any wealth rankings, Lo\u2019s net-worth of US$1.7 billion makes him 43rd richest person in Hong Kong. (Source: Wikipedia)<\/strong> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lo,\nwho is the heir to the world\u2019s biggest life insurance brokerage dynasty,\nactively works with the world\u2019s super rich and provides them with comprehensive\nlife insurance policies as part of their estate planning.  His team also specialize in succession\nplanning, estate division, and other wealth planning services. Lo also manages\nan AUM worth US$8 billion in his self-founded subsidiary asset management firm,\nR.E. Lee Capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While\nthe purchase of a profitable commercial property makes sense for Lo, who is,\nafter all, an enterprising businessman, what is surprising is that he decided\nto splurge on the iconic Mandarin Oriental Taipei – one of the most expensive\nproperties in all of Taiwan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compared\nto his peers around the world, Lo has always been a reticent billionaire, who\nhas shied away from the public eye. In fact, many Hong Kong-based business\ntycoons don’t even know who he is. He never give any interviews and always has\na security detail around to prevent prying reporters from filming him. When it\ncomes to his investments, Lo is even more cautious and doesn’t display his\nwealth to the world. For all intents and purposes, Lo is a secretive\nbillionaire who refuses to appear on any rich list. Despite having many other\nexpensive and high-profile assets in his portfolio, the Mandarin Oriental\nTaipei hotel will continue to be Lo\u2019s most visible investment, predominantly\nbecause of the hotel\u2019s legacy in Taiwan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\naddition to the hotel itself, Lo has also purchased the adjacent plot of land\nmeasuring 149,446.13 square feet. What plans he has for this property are as\nyet unknown. However, it is widely reported that Lo and his team have big plans\nto change the operational and growth strategies of the Mandarin Oriental Taipei\nproperty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike\nother businesspeople, local media reported that Lo has self-funded his entire\npurchase. There were no loans or public investments in this venture. The\ninsurance giant ensured there was no fuss about the entire proceedings and\nefficiently brought the ownership of a very lucrative property under his\ncontrol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Privacy\nis key to this under the radar billionaire, who keeps all of his personal and\nprofessional doings a complete secret.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Philanthropist with a\nLarge Heart <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only is Lo an unassuming man who keeps a low profile, but he is also one of Hong Kong’s leading philanthropists. The business heir supports NGOs across the city, both anonymously and with his name. He is also a nature lover who is a part of the Jane Goodall Institute board. A large part of his finances goes towards the well-being of animals, the community and the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Lo has set up different charitable trusts worth US$245 million for his philanthropic initiatives. (Source: Wikipedia)<\/strong> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The city of Hong Kong woke up to shocking news recently. Taiwan’s most prestigious luxury hotel, the Mandarin Oriental Taipei, found its ownership had officially changed hands at the end of last month, following a generous transaction of US$1.24 billion, Taiwan Economic Daily News reports. The hotel \u2013 which is one of the most iconic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":21600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[641,640,639,283],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/calvin-lo.jpg",850,850,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/calvin-lo-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/calvin-lo-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/calvin-lo-768x768.jpg",768,768,true],"large":["https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/calvin-lo.jpg",800,800,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/calvin-lo.jpg",850,850,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/calvin-lo.jpg",850,850,false],"alm-thumbnail":["https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/calvin-lo.jpg",150,150,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/calvin-lo-850x560.jpg",850,560,true],"digiqole-medium":["https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/calvin-lo-600x398.jpg",600,398,true],"digiqole-small":["https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/calvin-lo-455x300.jpg",455,300,true],"profile_24":["https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/calvin-lo-24x24.jpg",24,24,true],"profile_48":["https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/calvin-lo-48x48.jpg",48,48,true],"profile_96":["https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/calvin-lo-96x96.jpg",96,96,true],"profile_150":["https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/calvin-lo-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"profile_300":["https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/calvin-lo-300x300.jpg",300,300,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Mohammed","author_link":"https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/author\/fmd32k\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The city of Hong Kong woke up to shocking news recently. Taiwan’s most prestigious luxury hotel, the Mandarin Oriental Taipei, found its ownership had officially changed hands at the end of last month, following a generous transaction of US$1.24 billion, Taiwan Economic Daily News reports. The hotel \u2013 which is one of the most iconic…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21598"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soinfluential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}