Shortly after his 69-year-old father, Henry, went on leave because of an unspecified illness, Adrian Cheng, became the apparent heir to his Billion dollar Jewelry Empire an chains of business which includes; New World Development Co. and Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd.
When the 36-year-old scion ultimately takes over from his father, he will be in charge of a conglomerate that controls one of the city’s biggest property developers, runs the Carlyle Hotel in New York City and operates a chain of jewelry stores that generates about 80 percent more revenue than Tiffany & Co. globally. Today, the family controls four listed companies with a total market value of more than $25 billion, as well as some that are closely held.