#14 Li Ka-shing-Net Worth $34.2 Billion $84 M | -0.2% As of 4/12/2014

One of the world's great empire builders Li Ka-shing oversees a far-reaching conglomerate with 270,000 employees in 52 countries. The richest person in Asia, he could be a lot wealthier if he so chose. The reason: Li is probably the only person on earth who invested in Facebook as a high-stakes hobby and made no money from it. Li bet on Facebook, a decision he says took him five minutes to make in December 2007, through his charitable Li Ka Shing Foundation. In fact, all of his tech bets, whether in Spotify, Siri, or more recently Bitcoin payment service provider, BitPay, benefit the foundation, not him. Still his stakes in Hutchinson Whampoa, Cheung Kong and Husky Energy, plus rich dividends of $1.7 billion in just the past two years, allow him to hold onto the top spot in his region. Born in Chaozhou in China's Guangdong Province, Li and his family had to flee to Hong Kong during the Sino-Japanese war. Not long after their arrival Li's father, who had been a primary school principal in China, died from tuberculosis. At age 12 he quit school and started as an apprentice in a watch-strap factory. By 14 he was working full-time in a plastics trading company to help support his family. In 1950 Li quit to start his own business making plastic toys and everyday items. He retooled his factory to focus on plastic flowers after learning about their popularity in Italy from trade journals, figuring they offered him better business prospects. He named his first company Cheung Kong, after the Yangtze River, whose power comes from a confluence of countless smaller streams.

Chairman,Hutchison Whampoa

Age 85

Source Of Wealth diversified, Self Made

Residence Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Citizenship Hong Kong

Marital Status Widowed

Children 2

Education Drop Out, High School

Li Ka-shing on Forbes Lists

#20 Billionaires
#1 in Hong Kong
#8 in 2013
#1 Hong Kong's 50 Richest
#30 Powerful People

#14 Li Ka-shing-Net Worth $34.2 Billion $84 M | -0.2% As of 4/12/2014