A stock market rebound and tentative recovery in Hong Kong’s property sector have pushed the combined wealth of the city’s 50 richest people to a record high, according to Forbes’ latest rich list. The collective net worth of the group climbed to US$366 billion, up from US$301 billion a year earlier, while the minimum threshold to make the list rose to an unprecedented US$1.6 billion.
Forbes said the surge was driven by a wave of initial public offerings and one of Asia’s strongest stock-market performances over the past year, with the Hang Seng index jumping nearly 30 percent since its last assessment of local fortunes. Thirty-six of the 50 tycoons saw their wealth increase.
Li Ka-shing, the 97-year-old founder of CK Hutchison Holdings, retained his long-held position at the top of the ranking after adding US$7.8 billion to his fortune – the list’s biggest gain in absolute terms – taking his net worth to US$45.1 billion. Shares in CK Hutchison have climbed more than 60 percent over the past year, although a planned sale of 43 ports in 23 countries to a BlackRock-led consortium has been delayed amid regulatory scrutiny from Beijing.
Property and jewellery heir Henry Cheng and his family stayed in third place, with their wealth rising US$6.6 billion to US$26.1 billion as shares in their Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group almost doubled on the back of higher gold prices.
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Among the biggest gainers, the Keswick family’s net worth jumped by nearly 90 percent to US$4.6 billion, helped by a dealmaking spree at Jardine Matheson that included taking Mandarin Oriental International private.
Newcomers to the list include the Sohmen-Pao family, heirs of late shipping magnate Helmut Sohmen, who died in October aged 86. They debut with a fortune of US$5.7 billion. Toy entrepreneur Allan Wong, chairman of VTech Holdings, returned to the ranking despite weaker sales, after the company’s shares rose 15 percent as pressure from US tariffs eased.
Not everyone benefited. Forbes noted that although some fortunes grew in dollar terms, several names still fell off the list as the entry bar rose from US$1.4 billion to US$1.6 billion, including property tycoon Vincent Lo.
Forbes’ 2026 Hong Kong rich list is based on share prices and exchange rates as of 23 January 2026, and includes both individual and family fortunes. The full ranking and methodology are available on Forbes.com.
