Adrian Chi-Kong Cheng

Grandson of New World Development billionaire founder Cheng Yu Tung, Adrian Cheng is the third-generation heir of one of China’s most influential business families and the mastermind behind Chow Tai Fook, one of the world’s most successful jewellery brands. The company boasts over 5,900 outlets in Greater China and a market capitalisation of $27 billion. Forbes estimated the family’s holdings to be worth $26.4 billion in 2022.

Educated in the United States, first at the Taft School in Connecticut and then at Harvard University, Cheng is the eldest grandson of the family patriarch and New World Development founder, Cheng Yu Tung, who has holdings in businesses from retail malls to jewellery to insurance and high-end hotels. The younger Cheng worked at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse as an investment banker before joining the family business and has taken the lead in its retail and jewellery businesses, whilst his siblings oversee the other arms of the business, such as hospitality.

As one of the world’s youngest billionaires, Cheng is the executive director of Chow Tai Fook. Founding the K11 brand in Hong Kong and Greater China with the world’s first ‘cultural commerce’ concept, Cheng merges art and commerce and curates the customer journey with a focus on the next generation. The development of K11 MUSEA at Victoria Dockside combines fashion retail and art together for a unique shopping experience. He has been featured in Art Review's Power 100 every year between 2014 and 2022.

Cheng joined New World Development Co. in 2007 as an executive director and became CEO in 2020, a post he held until resigning in 2024. He is also the founder of the non-profit K11 Foundation, hosting the first ever exhibition of Monet in China.