2020-02-01 Forbes Asia

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34. MICHAEL YING
    $2.4 BILLION
    ESPRIT
    AGE: 70


35. MARTIN LAU
    $2.3 BILLION
    TENCENT
    AGE: 46


36. JEAN SALATA
    $2.25 BILLION
    BARING PRIVATE EQUITY ASIA
    AGE: 54


37. VINCENT LO
    $2.2 BILLION
    SHUI ON LAND
    AGE: 70


38. TANG YIU
    $2.15 BILLION
    BELLE INTERNATIONAL
    AGE: 85


39. WONG MAN LI
    $2.1 BILLION
    MAN WAH HOLDINGS
    AGE: 54


40. FONG YUN WAH
    $1.95 BILLION
    HIP SHING HONG GROUP
    AGE: 95


41. GORDON WU
    $1.9 BILLION
    HOPEWELL HOLDINGS
    AGE: 84
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CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: UP DOWN UNCHANGED NEW TO THE LIST RETURNEE

Sofa So Good

WONG MAN LI

in Vietnam, which faces no tariffs. “They

reacted the quickest and most aggressively

when the U.S.-China trade war started,”

says Daiwa Capital Equity Research Di-

rector Carlton Lai in Hong Kong.

So while Man Wah’s sales to the U.S.

last year dropped by more than a quarter,

Lai says it should be able to grab market

share in North America from China-based

competitors. Sales in China, meanwhile,

already account for more than half of Man

Wah’s sales—and for the year ended March

2019, China revenues were $705 million,

up 14% from last year. —Suzanne Nam

It’s been a good year for Wong Man Li’s

furniture maker Man Wah. Best-known

for making recliners, the company’s stock

nearly doubled in the past year, boosting

Wong’s estimated fortune to $2.1 billion

from $1.27 billion in 2019. Most furni-

ture exporters that manufacture in China

have been reeling from the 25% tariff on

exports to the U.S. that went into effect

last May.

Man Wah, whose China factories also

make couches and mattresses, was able to

avoid the brunt of tariffs thanks to having

had the foresight in 2018 to open a factory

HONG KONG’S

50 RICHEST