香港家族企业的内斗 Feuds?expose?flaws?at?the?heart?of?family?empires

Transparency and succession planning can leave a lot to be desired at many of Hong Kong’s family-controlled but publicly listed companies.
香港许多家族控股的上市公司，在透明度和接班人计划方面，仍有许多地方有待改进。
A vivid reminder came last week when Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong’s biggest real estate developer, unveiled a major change in its ownership structure. It removed Walter Kwok, eldest son of the controlling Kwok family, as a beneficiary from a controlling trust. The announcement came two years after a feud in the Kwok family was exposed. During that leadership battle, Thomas and Raymond, Walter’s younger brothers, took over running the developer founded by their deceased father.
上周一个鲜明的事例让人们认识到了这一点。香港最大的房地产开发商
The brothers ousted Walter as chairman, claiming he had bipolar affective disorder – a diagnosis Walter denied – and was unfit to run the company. Walter lost the ensuing dispute and his mother, who up to that point had no formal role in the company, took his place as chairman. He was made a non-executive director.
新鸿基地产(Sun Hung Kai Properties)宣布，其所有权结构发生重大变动。控股的郭氏家族的长子郭炳湘(Walter Kwok)，被剔除出了控制公司股权的信托基金的受益人名单。郭氏家族曝出内讧，至今已有两年时间。在这场领导权争夺战中，郭炳湘的两个弟弟——郭炳江(Thomas Kwok)和郭炳联(Raymond Kwok)——接掌了已故父亲创办的这家地产公司。
While the latest twist in the Sun Hung Kai saga barely moved the company’s share price, it has put the spotlight on other family-controlled groups.
两个弟弟宣称郭炳湘患有躁狂抑郁症（郭炳湘对此予以否认），不适合继续管理公司。郭炳湘在争斗中落败，丢掉了董事长之位。他的母亲（当时未在公司担任任何正式职位）接替了他的职位，他则改任非执行董事。
The prime example is SJM Holdings, the biggest casino operator in Macao, controlled by Stanley Ho.
这场家族内斗的最新风波，对新鸿基地产的股价几乎毫无影响，却使其他家族企业成为人们关注的焦点。
Mr Ho, who turns 89 next month, suffered a severe fall last year, and since then investors have been kept guessing as to who among his four wives and 17 children will take over his business empire once he passes away. The company has remained tight-lipped about the subject.
首先是澳门最大的博彩企业——何鸿燊(Stanley Ho)旗下的澳门博彩控股有限公司(SJM Holdings)。
This kind of situation “is exactly what we are afraid of when we look at companies that have family ownership. Some families put themselves above the board and run their companies as if they were private”, says a Hong Kong-based fund manager.
何鸿燊下月将年满89岁，他去年摔了一大跤，从那之后投资者一直在猜测，一旦他过世，他的四位妻子和17个子女中，谁将接掌他的商业帝国。对于这个话题，该公司一直守口如瓶。
Investors, however, will find it difficult to avoid such family businesses: more than 70 per cent of the city’s listed companies are controlled by either their founders or members of the founding families.
香港的一位基金经理表示，这种局面“正是家族企业让人担心的地方，有些家族把自身凌驾于董事会之上，他们似乎把公司当作私人的”。
Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong’s richest man, continues to run Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa, his flagship companies, even though he is 82.
然而，投资者很难避开家族企业——香港70%以上的上市公司由创始人或其家族成员控制。
Lee Shau-kee, the city’s second wealthiest person, also 82, has been at the helm of Henderson Land Development for 34 years. Like many traditional Chinese families, both tycoons favour their eldest sons – Victor Li and Peter Lee, respectively – to take over eventually.
香港首富李嘉诚(Li Ka-shing)年已82岁，仍管理着长江实业(Cheung Kong Holdings)及和记黄埔(Hutchison Whampoa)两家旗舰公司。
“Family control can be both saint and sin,” says Nicholas Yeo, head of equities for China and Hong Kong at Aberdeen International Fund Managers.
第二富豪李兆基(Lee Shau-kee)也已82岁，掌舵
The best aspect, Mr Yeo says, is that family businesses normally have very long-term views as they are keen to keep their companies flourishing. They tend to be more careful in investment decisions as they know that they are spending their family fortune.
恒基兆业地产(Henderson Land Development)34年之久。与中国多数传统的家族一样，这两位商业巨子均属意由长子——分别是李泽钜(Victor Li)和李家杰(Peter Lee)——接班。
Transparency can be an issue, however. Even though many family companies in Hong Kong have professional managers and boards, the controlling families usually have the ultimate say.
“企业由家族控制既有大利，也有大弊。”安本国际基金管理有限公司(Aberdeen International Fund Managers)中国/香港股票投资主管姚鸿耀(Nicholas Yeo)表示。
Though Sun Hung Kai has done well in keeping its business on an even keel over the past two years, in spite of the dispute and management changes, investors fear that last week’s development suggests the saga is not over.
姚鸿耀指出，最大的好处是，家族企业通常眼光长远，因为他们乐于让公司长期繁荣昌盛。他们在投资决策上往往更为慎重，因为他们知道，自己是在使用家族的财富。
“You never know whether Walter will come back and do something nasty,” says the Hong Kong-based fund manager.
但透明度有可能成为一个问题。虽然香港许多家族企业都有职业经理人和董事会，但最后拍板的，通常是控股家族。
Another problem in succession planning, unique to Chinese culture, is that it is often considered inappropriate to draw up such a plan while the older generation is still around.
过去两年里，尽管存在着内部纷争和管理层变动，但新鸿基地产的业务一直保持平稳。但上周的最新情况让投资者担心，纷争可能尚未结束。
“It’s a taboo for the Chinese to talk about death,” says Kevin Au, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who researches family businesses.
上文提到的香港基金经理表示：“你永远无法知道，郭炳湘会不会卷土重来，再搞出一些什么名堂。”
Family trusts present another hurdle, Mr Au says. Many companies such as Sun Hung Kai are controlled by trusts set up by their founders, and therefore have little flexibility when it comes to ownership structure. As Mr Au puts it: “A trust is a tool for the dead to control the living.”
接班人计划方面还存在一个问题：一般认为，当老一辈还在世时，制定接班人计划不太合适。这是中国文化的一种特有现象。
研究家族企业的香港中文大学教授区玉辉(Kevin Au)表示：“中国人比较忌讳谈论死亡。”
区玉辉指出，还一个障碍来自家族信托基金。香港许多公司都由创始人设立的信托基金控制，新鸿基地产就是如此。因此，在所有权结构方面几乎没什么灵活性。按区玉辉的话说：“信托是死人控制活人的一种工具。”
译者/杨远