Crash tycoon Kok Lam’s wife behind much of Brilliant Group’s success
As search goes on, reports emerge that Kok Lam admitted he only executed strategies thought up by Liu Xiangyun for Brilliant Group
Behind every great man is a woman. That popular saying is particularly apt in the case of Kok Lam, the mainland tycoon killed in a helicopter crash in France on Friday.
Business friends of Kok say his wife, Lau Sheung-wan, also known as Liu Xiangyun, was the real brains behind many of the successful projects of the Brilliant Group, the company he headed.
Founded by the couple in 1995, the Kunming-based business empire is a household name in Yunnan province.
The group's business activities include upmarket teas, cultural tourism, property development, hotels and resorts, management of shopping centres, and recently fine French wine.
In a previous interview with Kunming newspaper Metro Times, Kok was honest enough to say that his role in the group was to execute the strategies thought up by his wife.
In the same interview, Liu said: "I and my husband are the best partners. He takes care of money. I do not take care of the money stuff. I am not good at managing money. But I am good at making it."
Some of the couple's business friends said the Brilliant Group had been involved in some unsuccessful property projects in its early years and that it was Liu who had revived them, turning them into boutique hotels and spa resorts. "Some of Ms Liu's projects have even won awards," one of the friends said.