Business people must be bold!

You would be surprised. There are some unbelievable outliers out there. So unbelievable that I had to see it before my very eyes in order to conclude: yup, that bloody outlier actually does exist!

In 2012, I was in Dalian, China to do some business opportunities research. The person entertaining my party was one of Dalian's richest men (his name and company elude me... I was too freaking small timer to get his card and details, and I was a minion bringing up the rear of the entourage anyway). That guy was involved in a lot of property development and several factories; he was building entire townships on the outskirts of Dalian.

He was the one and only Chinese businessman I have ever met that does not have a single one of the following vices, and I seriously mean not ONE of the following vices:

1) He does not smoke.
2) He does not drink.
3) He does not womanize.
4) He does not gamble.

Like literally. He was a complete tee-totaler. He brought my ex-boss' entourage out for dinner at a banquet restaurant after our tour of his township developments. We were accompanied by some of the Commie officials from Dalian (tax bureau, Public Security Bureau, etc.).

Almost everyone at the table was chugging down shots of RMB50,000 mao tai or smoking expensive packs of cigarettes by the pack! I never saw this man touch a single cigarette, and we were clearly warned beforehand not to toast him because he absolutely refuses to drink, and can tell off top city Commie officials for that too.

He was also the only "boss" who did not show off an "accompanying wife" or gave us an offer for "further entertainment" in all the China taukes / taikors that I have met.

I remember one of my bodoh ex-seniors trying to toast him with the expensive maotai. He answered my colleague's toast with Chinese tea, LOL!!! Refused to take the maotai or the beer proffered to him.

This is the guy who gave me the inspiration and the courage to quit this kind of business and work. I saw how much damage all these kind of "entertainment" and substances were inflicting onto my ex-boss and ex-colleagues.... (none of them were healthy at all!!!) and told myself: "OK, I've had enough of this... I'm getting out before I kill some organ in my own body as well." Also gave me the guts to finally stand on my principles and look people right in the eye and tell them: "Sorry, I don't drink alcohol." Before that, I used to be brainwashed that if I want to do business, I must drink and drink a lot too in order to entertain, and I hated that very much. Thankfully now I am doing stuff that does not require me to engage in all those activities, LOL!

So even among the list of tycoons or billionaires, you would find the odd cuckoo here and there who does not care about women or pleasures of the flesh

I am lucky enough that a handful of my relatives / friends know some of these super- tycoons directly. So many tidbits and gossip that can share, LOL!

Robert Kuok:

1) The only capable son from his first wife is Ean, but he suffered burnout recently. Used to lead Shangri-La Hotels.

2) Beau is now the "heir apparent", but not for all the units of the Kuok Group. Beau not very capable. Robert Kuok originally depended on his nephew-in-law, Richard Liu, to guide his eldest son, but the fellow died young (Richard Liu married Philip Kuok's daughter). VI boy and old school UM graduate, that one.

3) The only son from the second wife was trained personally by Robert himself. He has just been given reign of Kerry Properties, which is Kuok Group's property development arm.

https://www.mingtiandi.com/real-estate/agen...rry-properties/

Robert Kuok was not able to spend time with his first wife's children when they were growing up because he was running around growing his businesses. When he had a son by the second wife, he took to training him very seriously.

4) Robert Kuok was still active in trading the sugar futures market 3 years ago. My relative witnessed him making a HKD500 million sugar futures trade (single trade). I don't know how he does it man.... I make a forex or futures trade for USD1K, my hands also shaking already, LOL!!!

5) Kuok Khoon Hong (Robert Kuok's nephew) is really capable, but he works 6 - 7 days a week, 16 hours a day! There is no way to be a tycoon without giving up the vast portion of your life for the cause.

6) My relative once asked Robert Kuok: "Do you ever look at KS Li?" RK's reply back: "I never look at KS Li. KS Li is the one looking at me."

Fuyoh, not bad.... shows his empire is a lot more deeper than what we know. A lot of his businesses are not listed, so we do not know what is their valuation like (Kerry Properties, the cooking oil business, etc.).

Robert Tan and family (IGB):

Used to see the three Tan brothers (I think... all same face) having tea / coffee at 4 pm at one of the coffee or tea shops in Midvalley every day on weekdays. Robert Tan's Rolls Royce have no special license plate number... just a regular 4 digit license plate, LOL!!! Humble and nice looking guy, used to walk around with no bodyguards until recently. Always belanja his bodyguards makan also one.

Quek Leng Chan:

1) Between him and his cousin, Kwek Leng Beng, Quek Leng Chan is the far more smarter and more capable one. Quek Leng Chan literally built the Malaysian branch of Hong Leong from almost zero, while Kwek Leng Beng had the original Hong Leong base in Singapore to rely on. If you compare Quek Leng Chan's and Kwek Leng Beng's business moves along the years, you will find that Quek Leng Chan was very strong and aggressive, while Kwek Leng Beng is safe and conservative. And the most impressive thing about Quek Leng Chan is that he is like the business equivalent of Lothar Matthaus. If Lothar Matthaus is a total footballer, strong in every single aspect of football, including offense and defence, then Quek Leng Chan can practically do any kind of business and pull off any kind of corporate game / exercise. He can enter almost any industry, he can take over companies through friendly M&A or through hostile takeover, he can do turnaround of weak companies, and then he can sell off the company at sky high valuation. Highly respected and feared here in Hong Kong, after he almost took over Bank of East Asia. Heard he gave no fvcks and no face to the tycoon families here, so much so the Li family had to bring in reinforcements from the other Hong Kong tycoons to prevent their bank from getting swallowed up by him (Quek).

2) Quek Leng Chan is quite a "hardcore" gambler. And when I say gambler, I do not mean the type of game based purely on chance, like roulette or big / small. He likes to play the games which need skill one... like mahjong or baccarat. A lot of the casinos in UK fear him, because he is REALLY GOOD in his skills. This fellow treats these games like a mental exercise.

These are just some of the little stuff I have heard and seen along the years. Yeah, most of it hearsay, but they come from mouths of people who heard or saw things firsthand. It is so fun to know how the legitimate tycoons and businessmen do their business. Literally like watching the Art of War, Business Style, being played out in front of you. On the other hand, when I hear stories of cronies and proxies for politicians, I always end up learning nothing new or of substance.

If not bold then u be ready to lose out or eaten by others