Billionaire Hong Kong tycoon Joseph Lau dismisses rumours about health, his will and his personal life and says he is victim of ‘fake reports’
- Lau, 72, calls press conference to deny he had written wife out of his will and left everything to oldest son
- He also denies wife Kimbee Chan caused him to lose more than HK$2 billion in investments
The 72-year-old billionaire on Friday denied stories that he had changed his will to bequeath his fortune to his eldest son from his first marriage and leave wife Kimbee Chan Hoi-wan nothing.
“Kimbee told me to just let it go, but if I don’t speak up, some people will take things further,” the former chairman of Chinese Estates Holdings said.
“I have to come out to protect my family. These are serious accusations, they are not real and they are fabricated.”
The articles also said that Chan had caused him more than HK$2 billion (US$256 million) in losses through investments and alleged his health was deteriorating.
Lau, who had a kidney transplant in 2016 and suffers from renal problems, heart disease and diabetes, appeared to be in good health at his press conference and poured cold water on suggestions he was at death’s door.
“Kimbee did not cause me to make any losses by investing in Evergrande, instead she told me to sell my shares,” he added.
“She actually earned me HK$2 billion in trading artwork,” Lau said. “If I made any losses in investments, those are my own decisions,” Lau said.
The tycoon sold 77 luxury handbags for more than HK$25 million in February at a Sotheby’s auction.
The keen art collector has more than 1,500 Hermes handbags, as well as collections of expensive porcelain pieces, wine and paintings.
Lau admitted he regretted giving ex-girlfriend, Yvonne Lui Lai-kwan, 46, financial support a year ago.
“I regret helping her get out of bankruptcy,” he said. “If given the chance I would not help her again and let her be.”
He added that he had stepped in three times to help Lui, a former Miss Hong Kong contestant, with her financial difficulties with a sum of less than HK$2 billion.
The billionaire, who has long been in the city media spotlight for his complicated love life, has a 43-year-old son, Lau Ming-wai, the present chairman of Chinese Estates, from his first marriage
He had two children with Lui, although they never married, and published a full-page statement in newspapers in 2014 to announce their break-up.
Lau later had three children with Chan, a former entertainment reporter at the now-closed Apple Daily newspaper, before their wedding in 2016.
Lau held a press conference earlier this year to dismiss rumours that he and Lui were back together after the two were photographed together in Causeway Bay.
Forbes magazine ranked Lau eighth among Hong Kong’s 50 richest people last year, putting his net worth at US$13.2 billion.
The tycoon was convicted of bribery and money laundering in his absence by a Macau court in 2014, but avoided a five-year jail term by not travelling there.
