He may have been born in Canada and raised in Boston, but after 32 years here Bruce Rockowitz sees himself as a Hong Kong native.
Last month he was tapped to be president and chief executive officer of Li & Fung, the global trading concern. In hindsight, quips the 52-year-old, his purchase of an US$800 air ticket from Boston to Hong Kong in 1979 was the best investment he has ever made, his ticket to a career in supply-chain management. He also owns a 20-strong fitness and restaurant chain called Pure Group, which has outlets in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and New York.
Rockowitz got into the business in the early 1980s after meeting Allan Zeman, the businessman best-known as the father of entertainment precinct Lan Kwai Fong in Central. Zeman owned Colby International, a company that procured consumer goods such as apparel and accessories in low-cost markets in Asia and exported them mainly to the US.
Rockowitz became a co-owner of Colby, which by the time it merged with Li & Fung in 2000 had 1,000 staff. Controlled by the Fung family, and led by chairman Victor Fung Kwok-king and his brother and executive deputy chairman William Fung Kwok-lun, Hong Kong-listed Li & Fung is one of the city's biggest companies and last year earned revenue of HK$124.11 billion.
How did you get your start?
I came to Hong Kong in 1979 after the Hong Kong Country Club hired me to be a tennis pro ... So, I took a semester off for six months from college. When I came to Hong Kong, I had no money. But I quickly earned enough money to pay for food and rent, and a little luxury - an air-conditioner - for the hot and humid summer. At the club, I came across many successful people. And I wanted to build something and had a lot of ambition.