真的富不过三吗？商业家族王朝能否打破怪圈
澳门博彩的兴盛，很大程度上归功于出身香港望族的“赌王”何鸿燊。他于5月26日去世，身后留下14名子女和超过60亿美元的财产。新闻已过去许久，但依然持续发酵中。持续多年的家产争夺战虽然以和解收场，但“富不过三代”是亚洲家族的一个典型问题。亚洲的商业王朝往往历史不长，许多都欠缺欧美同类企业那种制度性结构，基于人情关系的管理模式让大家长的资源难以代代相传，这些对企业的存续都非常不利。徽商、晋商，乔家，王家......他们都曾在中国商业历史上掀起腥风血雨，但又如昙花，消逝在历史长河中，而且短暂的令人心痛。
原文
MACAU WILL become the “Las Vegas of the Far East”, predicted Sheldon Adelson, an American casino magnate. In 2019 the Chinese territory’s $30bn in annual casino revenue was five times Vegas’s. Despite a slump in turnover this year as covid-19 emptied parlours, Macau’s rise looks poised to resume. It owes much to Stanley Ho, the charming scion of an illustrious Hong Kong clan. Thanks to the monopoly gambling licence he secured from Macau’s former Portuguese administrators in 1961 and held until 2002, STDM, his family’s main holding company, grew into Asia’s largest gambling empire.
美国赌业大亨谢尔登·阿德尔森（Sheldon Adelson）曾预测澳门将成为“远东的拉斯维加斯”。2019年，中国这个特别行政区的博彩年收入达到300亿美元，是拉斯维加斯的五倍。尽管受新冠疫情影响，今年赌场营业额大幅下降，但看起来澳门必然会重拾上升势头。这在很大程度上要归功于出身香港望族、魅力非凡的何鸿燊。他在1961年从澳门的前葡萄牙政府手中取得了博彩专营权牌照，并一直持有至2002年。凭借这块赌牌，其家族的主要控股公司澳门旅游娱乐公司成长为亚洲最大的博彩王国。
Mr Ho died on May 26th, aged 98, leaving behind 14 children and a $6bn-plus fortune. A decade ago his last wife fought a bitter public battle against his second and third wives for control of SJM Holdings, the group’s publicly traded arm. His elder children joined the acrimonious spat, which ended in a truce.
何鸿燊于5月26日去世，享年98岁，身后留下14名子女和超过60亿美元的财产。十年前，他的四房太太对二房和三房公开发起了激烈的争产战，争夺对家族集团的上市公司澳博控股（SJM Holdings）的控制权。年长的子女们也加入了这场尖锐的纷争，最后以和解收场。
Many Asian firms face similarly complex successions. Family concerns make up over half of all big businesses in Asia. Other recently departed patriarchs include Eka Tjipta Widjaja of Indonesia’s Sinar Mas Group, Henry Sy of SM Group in the Philippines and Shin Kyuk-ho of South Korea’s Lotte Group. Many other businesses have ageing leaders. Experts foresee a wave of turbulence.
许多亚洲公司面临同样复杂的继承问题。亚洲的大公司有半数以上是家族企业。近期离世的其他家族企业大家长有印尼金光集团（Sinar Mas Group）的黄奕聪、菲律宾SM集团的施至成，以及韩国乐天集团的辛格浩。其他许多企业的领导人也已老迈。专家预测将有一轮动荡。
Many patriarchs fear that anointing an heir apparent would weaken their grip on power or bring bad luck. Because Asian business dynasties tend to be quite new, many lack the institutional structures of European or American ones.
许多家族领袖担心指定继承人会削弱自己的权力或者不吉利。由于亚洲的商业王朝往往历史不长，许多都欠缺欧美同类企业那种制度性结构。
A deeper problem is their relationship-based management model. Bosses cultivate a personal rapport with politicians and financiers, which does not easily transfer from one generation to the next. Joseph Fan of the Chinese University of Hong Kong finds that family firms in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan lose some 60% of their value during generational transitions.
一个更深层次的问题是，它们基于人情关系的管理模式。老板们与政客及金融家建立的个人交情难以代代相传。香港中文大学的范博宏发现，香港、新加坡和台湾的家族企业在世代传递的过程中会损失掉约60％的价值。
Some of Asia’s geriatric bosses are keen to avoid this fate. Before retiring two years ago, Li Ka-shing, the 91-year-old doyen of corporate Hong Kong, simplified his web of businesses. He gave one of his sons clear control of CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings, which contain most of his empire.
亚洲一些年迈的老板们很想摆脱这种命运。现年91岁的香港商界教父李嘉诚在两年前宣布退休之前便简化了自己的商业网络，明确地把自己商业帝国的主要部分——长江和记实业和长江实业集团——的控制权交给了他的一个儿子。
词语解析
金融圈TIP
伴随全球亿万富翁的数量以及他们所控制的财富加速增长，帮助富豪打理家业的家族办公室正在从幕后走向台前，通过其掌握的天量资金改写着金融行业的版图。
马来西亚的郭鹤年、印尼李氏家族、施家经营的SM集团、缅甸金山集团......东南亚华人的商业帝国还有许多，今年这些企业帮助东南亚超越欧盟成为了中国最大的贸易伙伴。全球化放缓加之西方反华情绪上升，都为东南亚华人和中国加强连接提供了动力。作为“一带一路”的组成部分，中国也正向东南亚的基建项目注入大量资金，力争做到共同繁荣。
