David Woo King-wai has spent some time at the family securities business, but he claims to know little about finance. Since other family members took the job on, he has been able to concentrate on the listing and expansion into China of his design and construction firm, he told.
IN sharp contrast to the high-profile accomplishments of his late father Woo Hon-fai, CIL Holdings chairman David Woo King-wai keeps a low-key approach in his social and business life.
Only when his company sought a public listing in July did the 49-year-old architect-turned-businessman succumb to the need for a promotional drive for the company's share offering.
In fact, David Woo never intended to imitate his father's success in the bullion and securities industries. Mr Woo senior, then known as ''Mr Gold'', was chairman of the stock exchange and an outstanding political and business leader in Hong Kong.
''I am not very interested in finance and securities. My interest is in architecture, and building and engineering-related activities,'' says Mr Woo, the eldest son of Woo Hon-fai.
''My father never pushed us to do something we don't like.'' Although Mr Woo was involved part-time with his family's bullion business in the 1970s and early 1980s, his first love was his architecture firm, founded in 1974.