The good times of Li

Have you heard or read about Li Ka-Shing? He is the richest man of Hong Kong and is estimated to have a net worth of $28 billion. This 87-year old man is an iconic figure, an inspiration for the citizens. He is lovingly referred to as “superman” because of his achievements and his growth from rags to riches.

A man so rich, naturally you expect him to have extravagant tastes and super expensive gadgets. A wrist watch is something on which most of these ultra rich send tonnes of money. Thus it came like a breath of fresh air to know that he is very down-to-earth and practical. Having coming up the tough way, the value for money still remains. He wears a $400 worth Citizen Eco-Drive. For us, even this is super expensive but given vis-à-vis his networth, surely this is slumming it out!

What is endearing is that he sets this watch 30 minutes ahead and feels that even if he happens to forget an appointment, he can get back to it anywhere in Hong Kong within half an hour.

And why does he wear this when he can afford pretty much anything? Li says, “Suppose this watch is a hundred thousand dollars. I need to be careful. But this is a few hundred US dollars, I can play golf, I go swimming, get any exercise, I don’t need to be careful.”

Now that’s what we call being responsibly rich!