Think Generationally

[Jason Paine]

So as I sit here in my hotel room enjoying a little staycation with my wife and away from the 3 kids, I think to myself "who is the bozo that is building a 63 floor tower blocking everyone's view of the greatest skyline on the planet?"   Curiosity gets the best of me and a few google searches later, I find the man, Cheng Yu-Tung, #34 on the Forbes List.   

He has a fascinating story.  At the age of 15 he started riding his bike from Guangzhou to Macau, roughly 150 miles to escape the Japanese occupation during WW2.  Along the way his bike is stolen by Japanese soldiers, so he walks the remaining 60 miles to Zhuhai and sneaks on a boat to get to Macau.  Once there he finds a family friend who runs a jewerly shop and works for him.  After the war, he moves to Hong Kong and targets the wives of wealthy businessman.  That was 1946, fast forward to 2012 and he owns the largest jewerly business in the world after his IPO.  

There are two things that struck me about his rages to riches story.  Early in his jewerly business he started to invest in real estate and now that portion of his business dwarfs his jewerly branch even though it is the largest in the world (Chow Tai Fook).  So it seems with the wealthy no matter what industry they get started in, eventually they become real estate moguls.   

But the interesting lesson I learned from this "bozo" was his perspective on investing.  At the age of 90 he is passing on his investments to his grandchildren.  In fact, Rosewood Hotels is the fastest growing hotel chain in the world and is lead by his 31 year old granddaughter.  Cheng Yu-Tung has built his business for generations to come.  I have trouble thinking beyond a 5-10 year time frame.  Most of my mistakes in real estate have been because of my short sightedness.  I know this forum was supposed to be about our success stories, but success starts with the right frame of mind.  

How would you invest if you thought generationally?

Who is the bozo now?  Yep its me.

Happy investing