(Ecns.cn)--Henry Fok Ying-Tung's rags-to-riches story is a stunning example. Starting out from nearly nothing, the tycoon who became known as the "Godfather of real estate" occupied a 70 percent market share in Hong Kong at his career peak. He also made history as the first developer to sell residential blocks by installments, which he fueled with an aggressive marketing strategy. By the time of his death, Fok was reported to have accumulated a fortune in the tens of billions.
Born on a sampan fishing boat in 1923 in Guangdong Province, Fok had a humble childhood. He never owned a pair of shoes before the age of six.
His family had very little, and Fok did not receive a proper education. His studies at Queen's College in Causeway Bay were interrupted by the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in 1941, while Fok was still in junior high.
Worse still, his father and two elder brothers died when he was seven, leaving Fok to juggle poorly-paid labor jobs. However, too thin and weak to do arduous labor, he was soon fired. His mother then set up a grocery business for him.
Fok led a simple life with his wife and mother until 1945, when the resistance against the Japanese invasion ended and his mother decided to sell their store and shift the focus to shipping.
In the early 1950s, Fok eventually found his opportunity. According to the Standard, a Hong Kong-based daily newspaper, Fok made his pot of gold by smuggling arms into the mainland during the Korean War, which broke out in 1950, circumventing a United Nations arms embargo.
For about three years Fok managed to ship various goods, including iron sheets, rubber, cotton and medicines, first to Macao and then into the mainland.
At that time, Fok only slept three to four hours every day, since he had to load ships in the daytime and sail at night. He was once almost killed by marine police.
Yet his efforts were well rewarded. The experience did far more than simply elevate Fok to the ranks of Hong Kong's wealthiest; it also helped him affirm his loyalty to Beijing and tighten his relations with mainland leaders, reported the Standard.
The early 1950s also witnessed a wave of immigration to Hong Kong, with its population, according to statistics, increasing from 500,000 to 1.5 million between 1947 and 1953. Housing was far from sufficient, leaving a large number of people sleeping in shabby log cabins and even hallways.
That's when Fok decided to invest his fortune in real estate. He set up a real estate company in 1953 and bought a building in Causeway Bay for HK$2.8 million.
To claim a return on the investment as soon as possible, Fok pioneered the idea of selling apartments in installments, which allows purchasers to own a home by only making a down payment.
This turned out to be an epoch-making practice in Hong Kong's history and revolutionized a decade-long housing boom. People lined up to buy flats, which were sold out before they had even been built.
While pocketing tidy profits from the real estate market, Fok also expanded his businesses in many other industries. According to the Standard, during the 1960s Fok saw a potential winner in Macau, and teamed up with burgeoning casino mogul Stanley Ho Hung-sun to snap up a government-granted gambling monopoly in 1961. Fok was listed the 181st richest man in the world this year by Forbes Magazine, reportedly with most of his fortune coming from his stake in Ho's company.
By the 1970s, Fok already had his sights set on a larger target: the mainland. Even before the launch of "reform and opening-up" by Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970s, Fok was already beginning to make inroads, the Standard added.
In 1979, he invested in the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, the country's first five-star hotel. The joint venture introduced the idea of luxury and extravagance to a population with fresh memories of Cultural Revolution-era shortages.
Though well known as a successful businessman, Fok was also a huge fan of sports.
An enthusiastic soccer player and fan, Fok joined the executive board of FIFA in 1978 and was instrumental in China's return to international football in 1980. Serving as president of the Hong Kong Football Association, he continued to play even in his later years. More surprisingly, he was also a tennis champion in Men's Doubles for six consecutive years in Hong Kong.
Through the Fok Ying-Tung Sports Foundation, Fok donated millions of dollars to sporting projects and athletes on the mainland. When China won the right to host the 2008 Olympics in 2001, Fok donated $25.4 million towards the cost of building the showpiece "Water Cube" aquatics center in Beijing.
Fok died in 2006 at the age of 83, leaving a HK$28.9 billion-inheritance and his business empire to his family.
