1) Get advice from anyone
2) Reputation is the most important asset
3) If a company can’t keep growing, it will atrophy and die
4) Use competitor’s distress to your advantage
5) Discourage short-term thinking; don’t dwell on defeat
6) Destiny: “It’s funny how events had conspired to change my destiny. First, my parents’ divorce forced me to graduate late, thus delaying my service obligation, and now, a simple physical exam steered me in an entirely different direction.”
7) Never confuse brains with a bull market
8) Never turn anyone down since you never know where a relationship might lead
9) Think creatively, think big and don’t be afraid to take risks
10) Once you start playing around with a firm’s equilibrium, you set a process in motion with totally unpredictable results
11) Upon acquiring Hayden Stone: “We had just increased the scale four business by a factor of 30 times. A minnow had swallowed a whale!”
12) The more a business leader can personalize the relationships that tie together employees, the better it’ll be for the company
13) Merger talks typically start with each side laying out its vision of the big picture. The key is to establish good chemistry and atmosphere ahead of the hard bargaining.
14) More important the the mode of transportation is where the transportation is taking you
15) It’s best to exit those things that can’t be explained in plain English
16) It is always best to walk away when you can’t move forward on your on terms
17) Tell us what hill to match up and we’ll do it, but we can only succeed if we’ve one Northern Star by which to set our compass – The triumvirate Citigroup situation!
18) Rationalize what you want, but don’t fool yourself

Fantastic book, great guy!

Tags: Rain

“Time doesn’t change anything. Doing things changes things, not doing things leaves things exactly as they were” – House

“If you don’t have inflation, the last thing you need is cash”

“Time in the market produces returns, not trying to time the market” – Phil Nelson

“Profit from folly rather than participate in it”

“Obvious propects for physical growth in a business do not translate into obvious profit for investors”

I think an ex Canadian Minister said this about the US!
” Sleeping next to an elephant – no matter how friendly or even-tempered is the beast, one is affected by every twitch and grunt”

“Frankly, I don’t have many hobbies… The most important enjoyment for me is to work hard and make more profit”

“Even when I was small, I considered the most important asset to be my reputation”

Recipe for success: One needs many important qualities to succeed, a capacity to work hard, loyalty to those working with you and the job at hand, good judgement and a little luck. These plus a sense of direction – direction most of all becauseif you don’t have that, you may wander east on the advice of one associate and west on the advice of another. And if you just follow both, you are in trouble.

Qualities: Ethical, honest, “When I say yes, I don’t try to fund excuses later to say no”

Very loyal and patriotic. Always starts off speaches with “As a Chinese..”

Li Yuan Ling (his dad who died of TB) to Li Ka Shing: “Your father can’t fulfill his responsibility towards you and it’s impossible for you to continue your schooling. So, son, a man must have ambitions. You must have the strength of character. Then you can rise as tall as the sky. And remember, at any time, if things don’t go well, never be discouraged. Don’t forget who you are. Don’t forget your roots”.

Quotes

“You can build a person, a family and a future through education”

Luck?

The bibliography I am reading says that LKS’ dad had to move to Hong Kong because Chezhou and the rest of China were in a very bad war-torn state. Moving to HK wasn’t an active choice.

LKS entered the property business (Cheung Kong i.e. Long River started of as a plastics firm -flowers-) by luck. His landlord didn’t extend the lease and LKS bought his own commerical space.