Peter Woo Kwong-ching (born 5 September 1946 in Shanghai to a family from Cixi, Zhejiang) is a Hong Kong businessman, former chairman of Wharf (Holdings) and Wheelock and Company, and the son-in-law of shipping tycoon Y. K. Pao. He moved to Hong Kong with his parents at about four, was educated at St Stephen's College and then studied in the United States, taking a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics at the University of Cincinnati in 1970 and an MBA at Columbia Business School in 1971; he then worked for Chase Manhattan in New York and Hong Kong. In 1973 he married Pao's second daughter, Bessie Pao, and in 1975 joined Pao's World-Wide Shipping group as a director. After Pao's takeover of Wharf in 1981, Woo chaired Wharf from 1986 to 1994 and Wheelock from 1986 to 1996, and returned as Wharf chairman from 2002 to 2015. Under him Wharf grew from an investment firm into a conglomerate spanning container terminals, hotels, media, telecommunications, shopping malls and property, with flagship assets such as Harbour City in Tsim Sha Tsui and Times Square in Causeway Bay; the group also moved into cable television in the 1990s. In 1996 he resigned his listed-company posts to contest the first election for Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR, losing to Tung Chee-hwa. He chaired the Hospital Authority (1995–2000), the Hong Kong Polytechnic University council (1993–1997) and the Trade Development Council (2000–2007), served as a Standing Committee member of the CPPCC, and received the Gold Bauhinia Star in 1998 and the Grand Bauhinia Medal in 2012.
After taking over Wharf and Wheelock, Peter Woo drove the development of flagship properties such as Harbour City and Times Square and built the group into one of Hong Kong's leading developers. A long-serving public figure chairing the trade council and hospital authority and a candidate in the first chief-executive election, he bridges business and public affairs.
Achievements
- 1986 · Became chairman of Wharf (Holdings) Ltd, serving until 1994.
- 1996 · Resigned his listed-company posts to contest the first election for Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR.
- 2000 · Became chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, serving until 2007.