Li Ka Shing: Hong Kong’s Plastic King

Li Ka Shing is a Hong Kong billionaire who has amassed a fortune from selling plastic toys in the 1950s. His early entrepreneurial success led him to venture in other industries like shipping, real estate, financial services and telecommunications.

Li was born in Chiu Chow, China on June 13, 1928. His father died when he was just 12 years old. Li took the responsibility of taking care of his family at his father’s death. He left school to work in a plastic factory.

Because of his hard work, Li soon opened his own plastic company named Cheung Kong Industries. The unprecedented growth of his company led to diversifications and acquisitions. According to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, 10% of the stocks traded at the exchange belong to Li’s holdings.

Li established the Li Ka Shing Foundation in order to carry out his philanthropic activities and return to the people the favors he received as a billionaire businessman.

Ori Tal: Leading Property Investment-focused ESO Equity Group

An experienced entrepreneur, Ori Tal leads ESO Equity Group as Owner and Chief Executive Officer. He has led in excess of 750 condo conversion projects in the past seven years, with commercial and residential property investments totaling more than 1 million square feet.

A hallmark of Ori Tal’s entrepreneurial approach involves adding value to all projects undertaken. His firm has undertaken substantial renovation and restoration on numerous condominium properties. These efforts have added significantly to the market value of many units. Within a timeframe of two years, his firm has notably brought properties from 20 percent to 80 percent occupancy.

A major past ESO Equity Group project involves the transformation of an established Cocoa Beach retail center into a Class A Mediterranean-style office and retail space, the Executive Tower & Plaza. In July, 2011, the firm acquired Fairway Apartments in Daytona Beach. With full renovations completed, the units today maintain occupancy rates of 90 percent.

Prior to launching his business career, Ori Tal completed Bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Law in Israel at Haifa University. Earning honors in an academy course for Israeli officers, he held responsibilities as Lieutenant in the Navy reserves. Mr. Tal still has membership in the Israeli Bar, with his legal expertise giving him a unique perspective on the transactional aspects of real estate.

Ori Tal’s oversight responsibilities with ESO Equity Group extend to management of projects and forming investment partnerships that guide initiatives to successful completion. He maintains a highly experienced executive team, including a project manager with a background in central Florida hospitality real estate development. His firm’s financial advisor has specialized knowledge of accountancy rules and regulations.

Like many entrepreneurial leaders, Ori Tal maintains a commitment to giving back to the community. He supports a number of health-focused nonprofits, including Ezer Mizion in Israel and the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. Preferred free time activities include swimming and fitness, as well as spending quality time with family. 

Magic Johnson’s Magic Never Ends

Magic Johnson is a basketball hall of famer having played professional basketball with the LA Lakers in the National Basketball Association. He retired from the NBA in 1991 shortly after he discovered he contracted HIV. Upon retirement, he indulged himself in business and established the Johnson Development Corporation. His company helped small chain retail stores and entertainment businesses to flourish in minority neighborhoods.

Johnson was born as Ervin Effay Johnson Jr. in Lansing Michigan on August 14, 1959. Even as a boy, Johnson loved basketball more than any other sport. His high basketball IQ and talent became evident when he first joined a local basketball team at 15 years old. There, he earned the moniker “Magic.”

Johnson took up communication studies at Michigan State University. He became a star in the basketball team of the Spartans, leading the club to win the Big Ten Conference and took Michigan SU to the 1979 NCAA Finals.

The LA Lakers drafted him to the NBA when he applied for the draft in 1979. He won several awards in the NBA including the Most Valuable Player award three times and the NBA Finals MVP in his rookie year. He played with the LA Lakers for 12 years.

After his retirement in 1991, Johnson and business partner Earl Graves bought Pepsi-Cola’s distribution plant located in Maryland. In his desire to bring movie theaters to minority neighborhoods, he created the Johnson Development Corporation. Loews Cineplex Entertainment became Johnson’s partner in his humble endeavor. Soon, the partnership was able to build theaters in Cleveland, Atlanta, Houston and LA.

His success with theaters resulted in the opening of other forms of entertainment and food business. But his main idea did not change in spite of the expansion: bring the stores and restaurants to minority communities. This was his philosophy even when he partnered with Fatburger, Starbucks and TGI Friday’s.

Johnson also worked with the film and TV production. His films and TV shows were distributed through the Black Entertainment Television. He has also engaged in exercise and sports clubs. He hoped to bring greater opportunities to less advantaged communities.

Carlos Slim Helu: Mexican Business Tycoon

Carlos Slim Helu is the richest man in Mexico and the whole of Latin America, and one of the richest in the world. As a businessman and entrepreneur, Helu is into auto parts manufacturing, insurance, banking, telecommunications and technology.

Helu was born in Mexico City, Mexico on January 28, 1940. He studied at Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico where he earned his degree in engineering.

His prowess was noted in making undervalued companies profitable. He acquired Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex) after the Mexican government privatized the company in 1990. Helu’s takeover of the company improved the way telephone services are delivered in Mexico. The company started offering long distance calls, internet services, mobile phone services and telephone directory.

Helu is the owner of the largest internet service provider in Mexico. After he acquired Prodigy, he is now one of the largest internet service providers in the US. Helu also owns CompUSA, one of the biggest computer retail stores in Puerto Rico and the US.

Helu is listed by Forbes as the richest man in the world with a fortune worth $69 billion.

Myron Cherry’s Fee-contingent Commercial and Class Litigation Expertise

Myron Cherry is founder and Managing Partner of Myron M. Cherry & Associates LLC, a Chicago law practice that has achieved significant success in the past decade against much larger New York law firms. Mr. Cherry earned his L.L.B. from Northwestern University, where he served as Editor of the Northwestern University Law Review and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. He continues to maintain affiliation with  Northwestern University Law School as Adjunct Professor of Trial Practice.

Myron M. Cherry & Associates LLC, has established a reputation as one of the few established U.S. law practices that frequently pursue large-scale commercial litigation work on a wholly and partially contingency basis. This flexible strategy brings legal accessibility to clients who could not otherwise afford to pursue major court cases.

In recent years, Myron Cherry and his associates have been involved in two prominent cases: the $47 million 2010 Mansfield v. Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA) settlement and the $26 million 2006 Ventas v. Sullivan & Cromwell settlement. The former case involved a class action law suit brought against ALPA, alleging that United Air Lines pilots’ interests were not protected in pension agreements negotiated during the airline’s patent company’s bankruptcy. More than 2,000 pilots benefitted from this precedent-setting decision, one of the largest settlements ever achieved in a fair representation case.

In 2006, Mr. Cherry achieved a $25.5 million out-of-court settlement in Ventas v. Sullivan & Cromwell  which prevented a $186 million legal malpractice suit from reaching trial. In the case, Ventas, Inc. alleged that Sullivan & Cromwell had a conflict of interest in simultaneously representing its spun-off healthcare entity Kindred Healthcare and the parent firm Ventas (which transitioned into a real estate investment trust).

Why John Ilhan’s Stores were Named Crazy John’s

John Ilhan was the owner of Crazy John’s, one of the biggest mobile phone companies in Australia. His story was a perfect rags-to-riches story having been born from a poor migrant family.

Ilhan’s real name was Mustafa Ilhan. He was born in Yozgat, Turkey in 1965. His family transferred to Australia when he was five. He spent his boyhood Broadmeadows, Victoria, Australia. He was often bullied by racists in his school.

Ilhan’s fortune started when he opened Mobileworld in 1991, the first of his mobile phone stores. The store was located in Brunswick. He made high risk deals which included selling his products at $1 when his competitors sell the same phones at $200. This unconventional marketing strategy was the reason for the name change from Mobileworld to Crazy John’s.

Ilhan was a hard worker. He worked long hours to become one of the most successful phone retailers in the world. From the humble Mobileworld store in Victoria, he had more than 120 stores which employed about 600 workers in Australia.

His entrepreneurial skills gave him a fortune of more than $300 million. BRW magazine listed him as one of the richest men in Australia before he turned 40. When he was first listed in 2007, he was at number 126.

Ilhan was also into charities. He opened Ilhan Food Allergy Foundation. His daughter Jaida has been suffering from allergic reactions to peanuts. He started with a donation of $1 million.

At the prime of his entrepreneurial success, John died at 42 on October 23, 2007. It was suspected that he died of heart attack while he was just walking from his home in Brighton Victoria.

The Islamic Council of Australia esteemed him as one of the most loved person in the business community and has provided inspiration to many Muslims in Australia.

Carl Icahn: The True Measure of a Successful Buy-and-Sell Businessman

Carl Icahn is an American billionaire who has amassed great wealth by buying and selling exciting businesses. He is more popularly known for his moniker “imperial shareholder.” Some of the deals where he had a fortune included Trans World Airlines (TWA) Texas Oil and United States Steel Corporation (USX).

Born and raised in New York, Icahn went to Princeton University in New Jersey where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Arts and Sciences.

His strategy of investments included buying out controlling stakes existing in major companies in the name of a change in management. As the company’s performance improves, he sells it at a high profit.

Icahn believes that his strategy makes a financially distressed company become productive. In defense to his detractors, Icahn says his strategy is not about liquidating businesses. It is about helping them to cope and thrive as a business.

Icahn’s fortune is estimated by Forbes Magazine to be about $14 billion. He is listed as one of the richest men in the world.