Michael Kadoorie oversees the Elly Kadoorie & Sons group of companies, a family empire that stretches from utilities to hospitality to real estate. He is non-executive chairman and a major shareholder of The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, owner of The Peninsula Hotels group; and chairman of CLP Holdings, the larger of Hong Kong’s two electricity producers.

The Kadoorie family has a long and illustrious history in Asia, starting in Mumbai in the 18th century; Michael’s grandfather Elly Kadoorie moved to Shanghai in 1880 and made his fortune there, while his father, Lawrence, diversified the company, by then based in Hong Kong, following the Second World War.

Michael received a knighthood in 2005, and has been a member of the council of The University of Hong Kong. His Kadoorie Charitable Foundation has helped more than a million people in Nepal since the 1970s, an association that began with his support of the Nepali community of former Gurkhas and their families in Hong Kong.

His family is also widely known for Kadoorie Farm, a conservation centre in Hong Kong’s New Territories that has provided generations of Hongkongers with education about the natural world. A motoring fanatic, he is also famed for his extensive collection of classic cars. He is a father of three with his late wife, Betty.