Sir Yue-Kong Pao CBE JP (10 November 1918 — 23 September 1991), was the founder of Hong Kong's Worldwide Shipping Group, which at one point was the largest shipping company in the world. Anticipating the seriousness of the shipping downturn starting in the late 1970s, he diversified his interests, notably through the purchase of a controlling stake in The Hong Kong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company and later Wheelock Marden, giving exposure to Hong Kong real estate, retail, and transportation.
He was noted for his unmatched access to leaders in both the commercial and political arenas and was equally at ease with Western political leaders and the Chinese leadership in the run-up to Hong Kong's handover to China on 1 July 1997. He was also a philanthropist, notably in educational projects, helping set up universities, libraries, and scholarships.
Early life
Pao was born in 1918 in Ningbo, the third of seven children of an upper-middle-class family. He was a 29th-generation descendant of Bao Zheng. In 1931, he went to Hankou to work in his father's shoe manufacturing business whilst continuing his education at night. However, he decided that the shoe business did not suit him and he secured a traineeship with a foreign insurance company. By the age of twenty, he was established in his new position and married his wife Huang Sue-Ing, who was chosen by his parents.
In 1937, Hankou came under attack from the Japanese, and Pao along with 70 colleagues moved to Hunan and then Shanghai whilst leaving his wife in the relative safety of Ningbo.