By Co-Director of CEIBS Centre for Family Heritage and Professor of Finance and Accounting Oliver Rui

Ching Ling Foo was the first Chinese to dazzle international audiences with magic. In one of the signature tricks that made him famous at the turn of the 19th century, he would produce a large bowl of water from an empty cloth. As with all magic tricks, much of its success relies on transparency. The audience is convinced there is no trap door on the stage, and the bowl is large enough to make it obvious that the magician could not have hidden it beneath his clothing.

Early this year another renowned Chinese impresario performed some dazzling magic, of the financial kind. Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing announced a major reorganization of the two pillars of his family business empire, Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd. and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. Their real estate holdings are being combined into one listed company, Cheung Kong Property Holdings Ltd., while most of the other assets, which include energy, ports, telecoms, and retail holdings, will reside in a company called CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. In a press release announcing the changes, the company also said it was removing the layered holding structure between Cheung Kong and Hutchison to allow public shareholders to directly invest in the two separately, alongside the Li family trusts. Read more on Forbes.com

Photo credit: AP