Friday, July 13, 2012

Dickson Poon: The Asian Link


Dickson Poon is one of the toughest businessmen in Hong Kong. He had one of the most unconventional moves in business. When the Asian market faced economic recession in the late 1990s, Poon bought back the foreign assets of his publicly traded company Dickson Concepts for HK$1.53 billion. The move reverted the control of the group to him and his family.

Some skeptics said it would be better if the minority shares of Dickson Concepts were sold to other private individuals rather than let the controlling interest take over it. However, Poon’s idea proved to be brilliant as he got 52% of Dickson Concepts in May 1999.

Poon became popular with many business enthusiasts in Asia. Hong Kong’s prominent investment consultant Marc Faber praised Poon and described him as an unusual entrepreneur. “Poon doesn’t buy things just for the prestige of owning them; they always make sense,” Faber said.

Poon maintains his low profile. He is a natty dresser but he knows his customers and stores are the final arbiters of what fashion really means.

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