Who was Sir Robert Hotung? The great uncle of late casino king Stanley Ho, dubbed the ‘Far East JP Morgan’ and ‘grand old man of Hong Kong’
The first non-European permitted to live on The Peak and the only person in Hong Kong’s history to be knighted twice by the British monarchy, Sir Robert Hotung was said to be the colony’s richest resident and casts a long shadow over the city to this day
With his successful business empire, that survived several Portuguese and Chinese administrations, Ho was a legend. However, it is perhaps lesser known that he actually had a long and respectable ancestry which can be traced back to the late 19th century.
During Hong Kong’s early colonial era, the Hos were one of the “four big families” of Hong Kong, alongside Li, Hui and Lo. Their founders – Robert Hotung, Li Sek-peng, Hui Oi-chow and Lo Cheung-shiu, respectively – were all influential businessmen who rose to prominence, and many of their descendants are still recognised today.
Stanley Ho was the grandnephew of Robert Hotung, who was arguably one of the most influential businessmen and philanthropists in Hong Kong’s history. Here we take a look at the fabled life of the man often referred to as the first billionaire in Hong Kong, the “Far East JP Morgan”, and the “grand old man of Hong Kong”.
He was Eurasian and his father was of Dutch Jewish ancestr y
In 1862, Hotung was born in Hong Kong to British-Dutch father Charles Henry Maurice Bosman and a Chinese mother, Sze Tai. He was raised in Hong Kong by his mother and was educated at the Government Central School, which was later renamed Queen’s College, a secondary school in Hong Kong.
Although Hotung was of mixed parentage, he was raised solely by his mother and identified himself as native Chinese. Historical photos always show Hotung in his mandarin robes.
Dubbed the “Far East JP Morgan”, he was believed to be the richest man in Hong Kong