Kadoorie family
The Kadoories, a Sephardic Jewish family originally from Baghdad, settled in Hong Kong via Shanghai in the late 19th century. Sir Elly Kadoorie co-founded China Light & Power — now CLP Group — in 1901, while the family separately built a substantial hotel and property portfolio in Shanghai.
How the fortune was built
Elly's son Lawrence Kadoorie chaired China Light & Power for 39 years from 1934. The 1949 Communist takeover of China cost the family most of its Shanghai holdings, prompting a full refocus on Hong Kong. On the hospitality side, a 1923 merger formed The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, which opened The Peninsula Hong Kong in 1928. CLP is now Hong Kong's largest electricity producer, operating across mainland China, Taiwan, India, and Australia.
Where the family invests today
Sir Michael Kadoorie chairs CLP Group and owns roughly half of Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, parent of the Peninsula Hotels group. CLP's current strategic push, branded 'Climate Vision 2050,' is shifting capital from coal toward renewables, green hydrogen, and offshore wind across mainland China, India, and Australia, while Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels continues expanding the Peninsula portfolio globally, including a property in development in Istanbul.
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