18-04-2017, 02:02 PM
A 9,800% Stock Increase Exposes Hong Kong's Billionaires on Paper
by Robert Olsen and Benjamin Robertson
April 18, 2017, 5:00 AM GMT+8 Updated on April 18, 2017, 1:37 PM GMT+8
They are classic Hong Kong stories: people who, in a blink, became stock-market billionaires.
But exactly what’s behind much of this wealth is something of a mystery.
Take Wong Wing-wah, who used to be a fishmonger before starting a civil engineering firm. He took his company public last year -- and its stock then soared 9,800 percent. Wong and a partner, who together own nearly all of the stock, are each now worth roughly $1 billion. Their company, Luen Wong Group Holdings Ltd., reported just $1 million in profit last year.
What’s going on? The answer lies in one of the murkiest corners of Hong Kong finance: small-cap stocks.
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange and its sibling, the Growth Enterprise Market, have become a breeding ground for paper billionaires.
More details in https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...t-on-paper
by Robert Olsen and Benjamin Robertson
April 18, 2017, 5:00 AM GMT+8 Updated on April 18, 2017, 1:37 PM GMT+8
They are classic Hong Kong stories: people who, in a blink, became stock-market billionaires.
But exactly what’s behind much of this wealth is something of a mystery.
Take Wong Wing-wah, who used to be a fishmonger before starting a civil engineering firm. He took his company public last year -- and its stock then soared 9,800 percent. Wong and a partner, who together own nearly all of the stock, are each now worth roughly $1 billion. Their company, Luen Wong Group Holdings Ltd., reported just $1 million in profit last year.
What’s going on? The answer lies in one of the murkiest corners of Hong Kong finance: small-cap stocks.
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange and its sibling, the Growth Enterprise Market, have become a breeding ground for paper billionaires.
More details in https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...t-on-paper