Hong Kong stands as a city of immense wealth. Many affluent individuals reside here, where fortunes are built. Certain figures stand out prominently, wielding significant money and power.
Their histories are colorful. Joseph Lau is a name folks know. He built important property empires. His personal wealth is vast. His life saw business highs but also legal challenges.
Lau’s story remains intriguing. He built his career on land deals. He pursues valuable collectibles, with a widely ranging collection. He owns notable pricey art.
He possesses rare wines and sparkling diamonds. Many luxury handbags fill his collection. These items aren’t just sitting idle—they appear at auctions, revealing the life of a wealthy collector. His story includes being a fugitive.
The sale of his bags garnered significant notice. Many were Hermès or Chanel. These sales generated millions, demonstrating strong bag appreciation.
They reveal how the wealthy accumulate and manage assets. We begin with Lau, exploring his life in detail. The recent bag auction proves particularly fascinating.
1. **Introduction to Joseph Lau—Fugitive Billionaire**: Joseph Lau is a big name in HK. He develops property. He chaired Chinese Estates before. Forbes said he was billionaire 2006. This came from his property. His job was on real estate lot. HK rich often make money here.
But Lau’s public picture complex. His legal state is big part. Since 2014 he lived in HK. He found guilty in Macau. It was for bribery and laundering money.
This meant five years in prison. He didn’t served it though. No extradition treaty existing. HK and Macau don’t have one. This makes him convicted felon. He also a **fugitive**.
He transferred his wealth mostly away. He cited health as the reason. But Lau still has power. His money still large. His collections get world notice. His presence in money stays strong. It stays strong in luxury too.
2. **His Wealth and Ranking** Joseph Lau is a very rich person. He ranks high globally. Forbes tracker shows his net worth well. It is about US$13.6 billion now. This puts him high in Hong Kong. He is the 6th richest person. Globally he ranks very high too.
The Forbes says he is the 147th richest person. This shows how big his money is. It grows on property in HK. He invested in China too.
He gave most money to his wife. Chan Hoi Wan got it in 2017. His son Ming Wai Lau got some. He said his health was bad. Heart disease was mentioned some. Diabetes too was a problem. But his personal worth is still big.
This giving away money was a key event. It changed how his assets looked publicly. But the wealth came from him. It is still very close to his family now.
3. **The Fugitive Status—Conviction and Avoidance**: Joseph Lau’s legal past remains a key part of his story. His Macau conviction is central to it. In March 2014, a Macau court found him guilty of bribery and money laundering charges stemming from a land deal payment.
Specifically, he paid US$2.6 million to a public works official. Following the verdict, he received a five-year, three-month prison sentence. Yet he never served time due to jurisdictional complexities: Hong Kong and Macau lack an extradition treaty. This legal gap allows him to remain free, avoiding imprisonment.
Post-conviction, he resigned from his Chinese Estates roles. His son, Lau Ming Wai, became chairman, while his sister-in-law Sue Chan (wife Kimbee Chan’s sister) assumed the chief executive position.Though he stepped back officially, his influence at Chinese Estates endures through family connections. The company assets remain under family control, while he remains a fugitive from Macau justice.
4. **The Recent Handbag Auction—Highlights**: Joseph Lau has been selling bags lately, it made news. Sotheby’s held this event for him. It was called “The Art of Collecting Handbags: The Visionary Collection of Joseph Lau.” The first part had 77 bags. All were Hermès bags mostly. They were chosen over twenty years time.
The auction had many rare bags. Diamond Birkins were some items. Six different ones were shown. Limited bags were there also. Rare ones like bronze Kelly appeared. These bags shaped bag history well. This shows his good taste well. A crocodile Birkin stood out muchly.
It had diamond parts shining. This bag might sell high. Estimates were up to HK$2 million. Another note mentioned one Chanel bag also. It was with 76 Hermès bags. This sale proved the item’s value. It showed the real assets Lau owns now.
5. **A World-Class Art Collection**: Joseph Lau is equally known for his world-class art collection. While famed for property expertise, art remains a significant passion. He owns masterpieces by history’s most renowned painters—names universally celebrated in the art world.
His collection features icons like Andy Warhol, Paul Gauguin, and David Hockney. One report values his art holdings at over $1 billion, underscoring the collection’s extraordinary significance.
His acquisitions frequently make headlines. In 2016, he paid $17.4 million for Warhol’s culturally resonant Chairman Mao print. Earlier, in 2007, he acquired Gauguin’s “Te Poipoi” for $39.2 million.
He added Picasso’s “Buste de Femme” to his trove in 2015 for $67.4 million. These premier acquisitions reflect his pursuit of blue-chip art and readiness to invest substantially in iconic pieces.
Joseph Lau does not only buy art but sell it. Sometimes he does this selling without anyone knowing. Many people thought he sold David Hockney’s picture “The Splash.” This painting is famous and shows a swimming pool splash.
It was part of Hockney’s very well-known series of work. The artwork sold for $29.8 million at auction in 2020. The owner bought it in 2006 for much less money. That sale shows art can be a really good investment.
6. **An Impressive Wine Cellar**: Besides art, Lau possesses a notable passion for fine wines. He maintains a substantial wine collection valued significantly. This collection serves not merely for consumption but functions as a key asset class. Periodically, he auctions portions through premier houses—similar to his handbag sales.
Christie’s auction house was going to sell some of his wine bottles. They thought these hundreds of bottles would make $3 million. Among them was an exceptionally rare 1991 Henri Jayer case—revered by connoisseurs. That single case commanded $229,700 (~$19,000 per bottle), demonstrating the extraordinary value of vintage wines.
Lau disclosed investing over HK$1 billion in red wine alone, underscoring his dedication. His Sotheby’s auctions reflect this: a 2020 sale generated millions, including one bottle reportedly selling for millions of Hong Kong dollars.
7. **Rare and Valuable Porcelain**: Lau also collects fine Chinese ceramics, particularly antique porcelain. This discipline demands deep historical knowledge—understanding period production techniques, for instance. Collectors prize rare, exquisite centuries-old pieces, and his collection holds items of significant historical and artistic value.
Sotheby’s recently auctioned eight rare pieces from his personal porcelain collection. The auction house itself heralded it as “one of the finest collections of Chinese porcelain ever”—exceptional praise among connoisseurs. This acclaim underscores the extraordinary rarity and significance of his holdings.
The auction featured Ming and Qing dynasty pieces, golden eras of Chinese porcelain craftsmanship. Experts projected these eight items would fetch $13.2–19.2 million, demonstrating antique porcelain’s substantial worth and establishing it as a major asset class for serious collectors.
8. **Extraordinary Diamond Acquisitions**: Among his collection’s crown jewels are magnificent diamonds. These breathtaking stones command extraordinary value—not mere jewelry but world-class gems of exceptional size and clarity. Lau acquired them at record-shattering prices, making global headlines for their unprecedented scale and cost.
In 2015, he spent $76.9 million in a single stroke on two legendary diamonds, both gifts for his then-seven-year-old daughter, Josephine. These acquisitions reflect profound devotion beyond their monetary worth.
The first was a rare 16.08-carat pink diamond purchased for $28.5 million. Pink stones of this magnitude are fiercely coveted and scarcely found, fueling their astronomical prices.
The second, a stunning blue diamond, cost $48.4 million—then the highest price ever paid for a gem at auction. Reports note he owns another blue diamond (12 carats, now valued at $53 million). These purchases cement his status among elite jewel collectors, intertwining wealth, rarity, and familial legacy.
9. **Major Property Holdings**: His collections are amazing, but remember his start is property development. Joseph Lau got incredibly rich first from the real estate business, in fact. He made about $5.8 billion from property in Asia. This money came from buildings in Hong Kong and China. Knowing this helps explain why he can buy so much.
He used to be chairman of Chinese Estates, a property company, at the time. This job put him in charge of a big property empire. He left his job because of legal trouble in Macau. But his family still runs Chinese estates and owns property globally. A mansion in London’s Belgravia area was in the news. This big house is directly linked to his family company.
This London property is valued at about $109 million. It is being sold privately by the Savills company. This means it is a private and high-profile sale. If it sells near that price, it is one of the year’s biggest. This shows the size of property assets the Lau family owns. Selling is hard now, as the London market is tough. Rich people might leave the UK because of tax fears.
