Michael Kadoorie
                     Michael Kadoorie
Born in 1941[2] to a Jewish family,[4] the son of business 
tycoon Lawrence Kadoorie (1899–1993) and his wife, Muriel Gubbay, 
Kadoorie was educated at Kowloon Junior School in Hong Kong, as well 
as Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland. His family's roots in business in the Far 
East go back to his grandfather, a descendant of Iraqi Jews originally 
from Baghdad, who first settled in Shanghai in 1880. After a spell in Bombay, 
India, his grandfather made a fortune in Shanghai, mostly lost in 1949, and 
later, in Hong Kong through finance, real estate and utilities. Headquartered 
in Hong Kong soon after 1949, Kadoorie's father and uncle expanded the 
family businesses into a diversified group, led by the company flagship CLP 
Holdings Ltd.[3]
Career
Kadoorie is the chairman of CLP Holdings Ltd. which his family founded in 
1890 and in which they still hold a 35% stake.[5] The utility company provides 
electricity to 75% of Hong Kong as sole operator (licensed through a Scheme 
of Control) in Kowloon and the New Territories, and has equity interests in 
power plants in China, Southeast Asia, Australia and India.
He is also the chairman of the family's second largest listed group, Hong 
Kong and Shanghai Hotels, owners and operators of the Peninsula Hotel 
Group. He controls and is a director of Metrojet Ltd, Heliservices (HK) Ltd, 
and has initiated CLP Research Institute (a subsidiary of CLP Holdings which 
looks into renewable energy development).
He holds a number of directorships in non-Kadoorie companies. He was a 
member of the Council of the University of Hong Kong and, in 2000, the 
Kadoorie Biological Sciences Building opened at the university. [6]
Awards[edit]
A trustee of the Kadoorie Charitable Foundation, Kadoorie was made an 
Officer of the Legion of Honor by the government of France and a 
Commander of the Order of Léopold II of Belgium.[7] He was awarded a 
knighthood, as a Knight Bachelor, in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in 
June 2005. In 2004, the University of Hong Kong awarded him an honorary 
doctorate.[8]
Car collector
Sir Michael's Bentley Speed Six Mulliner drophead coupé
A photography buff, Kadoorie is also a helicopter pilot and a collector of 
classic cars. He is the owner of a number of rare automobiles, including 
a Bugatti Type 57, a 1932 Rolls-Royce Phantom II by Thrupp & Maberly, a 
1934 Hispano-Suiza J12 Vanvooren Cabriolet, a 1969 Lamborghini 
Miura P400 S, a 1924 Vauxhall 30–98 Tourer, a Talbot T150 
CSS Pourtout coupé (ex car of race driver Pagnibon), a Rolls-Royce 
Phantom III with Gurney Nutting body, and a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost.[2]
In 1998, he spent two months recovering from serious injuries at the John 
Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England after an accident in his 
vintage Ferrari when the spokes in two of the rebuilt wheels tore through the 
tyres.[9]
Personal life[edit]
He lives in Hong Kong with his Cuban-American wife, Betty Tamayo,[4] known 
as "Lady Betty." They have three children: Natalie (born 1985), Bettina, and 
Philip (born 1992).[10]
His sister Rita Laura Kadoorie is married to fellow Hong Kong 
billionaire Ronald McAulay.[11]