He passed away peacefully, surrounded by family.
Cheng Yu-tung, whose Chow Tai Fook jewelry chain operates more than 1,800 stores in China, has died at age 91.
Cheng’s fortune of well over $16 billion made him the third-richest individual in Hong Kong, the Wall Street Journal reports. In addition to the jewelry chain, he also had other business interests, including vast property holdings.
According to the Journal, he “pioneered the sale of 24-karat gold jewelry,” which remains popular in Asia.
Cheng, founder of the conglomerate New World Development Co., got his start in Macau in the 1940s, working for the original Chow Tai Fook jewelry shop, the newspaper notes. He married the daughter of the store owner and eventually opened a Chow Tai Fook location in Hong Kong.
Cheng is reported to have “died peacefully” surrounded by family.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal