As Bank of East Asia turns 100, chairman David Li plots digital future, says he’ll stay on until March 2021
- BEA chairman David Li Kwok-po, 79, says he has no plans to step down before his contract ends in March 2021
- The bank, Hong Kong’s oldest, celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding on Wednesday
David Li Kwok-po, the third-generation scion of Hong Kong’s oldest home-grown bank, Bank of East Asia, said he will remain active in managing the bank’s 200 global outlets at least until 82 years old, showing no signs of handing the reins over to the next generation for the next three years.
Li, 79, is the longest serving and one of the highest paid bankers in Hong Kong, taking home HK$46.9 million (US$5.99 million) in compensation last year. His contract as chairman and chief executive of BEA will end on March 31, 2021, when he turns 82.
“I have a retirement plan in my head but I have not received approval from my wife. As such, I can not disclose anything,” Li said, during a lighthearted moment on Wednesday, as his bank celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding.
“It does not matter when I will retire. The bank’s management has succession planning on all important roles. The management reviews succession planning from time to time subject to the approval by the board,” Li said.
Li declined to say if his two sons – Adrian Li Man-kiu, 45, and Brian Li Man-bun, 44 – who are both deputy chief executives of the bank, will take on either of his two roles at the bank.
“It would be up to the board, and not me, to decide the future roles of my two sons at the bank,” Li said.
By 2021, he will have worked at the bank for 52 years – including 40 years as chief executive and 24 years as chairman.