It had not even been two days since Lin Baicheng acquired Hutchison Whampoa and became its largest shareholder, when yet another major piece of news shook Hong Kong.
Shipping tycoon Pao Yue-kong had begun acquiring shares of Wharf Holdings, and Jardine Matheson's Hongkong Land was also increasing its stake in Wharf. The two sides were clearly competing for control of the company.
This was Pao Yue-kong—the King of Shipping, the world's leading shipowner, and currently Hong Kong's richest man. In terms of influence, he was far beyond the current Lin Baicheng. So when the media reported that Pao was buying Wharf shares, people immediately gained tremendous confidence in Wharf's future, believing that Pao's involvement would surely bring the company to new heights.
Investors who saw the news immediately rushed to buy Wharf stock.
Pao was buying. Hongkong Land was buying. One wanted more shares; the other was trying to defend its control. The result was a rapid surge in the stock price. In just half an hour, it broke past HK$20 per share.
This price was already higher than the HK$20 per share at which Lin sold his shares to Pao. And it was clear this was nowhere near Wharf's peak—it was only a matter of time before the stock broke HK$30 or even HK$40.
Looking at it this way, it seemed clear that Lin had sold too early.
But there was no helping it. If Lin didn't intend to take over Hutchison Whampoa or Wharf, he could have held on to his Wharf shares and made a quick fortune. But with Hutchison Whampoa under his control—and with its vast land bank—he would earn far, far more in the long term, instead of just a few hundred million Hong Kong dollars of short-term profit.
Seeing Wharf's stock price skyrocket, Lin felt no regret. In fact, he felt fortunate—fortunate that he had pulled off a clever trick and bought a large number of shares from scattered retail investors before the Wheelock family realized anything, paying only a 20% premium.
Now, looking at Wharf's price, Pao would need far more than a 20% premium. Even 200% might not be enough to acquire sufficient shares.
The sudden appearance of this news was also connected to Lin. Lin's abrupt purchase of all of HSBC's Hutchison Whampoa shares—followed by an increase of his stake to nearly 40% in a short time—had handed control of Hutchison Whampoa to him.
The event made huge waves in Hong Kong. Both British firms and Chinese business groups quickly learned of it. Jardine Matheson was no exception. N.M. Rothschild instructed people to review Jardines' holdings in its companies. Among them, Wharf and Hongkong Land—its left and right arms—were the focus.
Jardines held about 33% of Hongkong Land, so control wasn't a concern. If someone tried to make a move on Hongkong Land, Jardines could simply increase its stake in a short period, quickly pushing its holdings above 40%.
But Wharf was different. Jardines controlled it through Hongkong Land, which held only 18%—not even 20%. This discovery made Rothschild uneasy. After all, the Wheelock family had held similar percentages of Hutchison Whampoa, and Lin had still managed to take it over.
Using his connections, Rothschild investigated further and discovered that Pao Yue-kong had recently been buying Wharf shares.
He didn't know how many shares Pao already held, but the fact that Pao had begun acquiring them meant he was clearly preparing a takeover—and had likely bought quite a lot already. Rothschild immediately mobilized funds to increase Hongkong Land's stake.
Pao was buying Wharf. Rothschild was buying Wharf. How could news like this stay hidden? Although neither side made public statements, the story still leaked—and as it spread, it evolved into "Pao Yue-kong and Hongkong Land are fighting for control of Wharf."
But this rumor happened to be accurate. Pao truly intended to acquire Wharf, and Hongkong Land truly intended to defend its control. The two were indeed fighting for the company.
As for how Pao responded to Lin, that was none of Lin's concern. Lin had no intention of joining this takeover battle. Instead of diverting funds into a messy fight over Wharf, it was better to increase his Hutchison Whampoa stake to 49.9%—a far more secure and meaningful investment.
Lin Baicheng went shopping in Central with his older sister Lin Shufang and younger sister Lin Qin.
Central was Hong Kong's political and economic center and a high-end shopping district. It was filled with countless financial institutions, restaurants, and designer boutiques—a favorite destination for locals and tourists alike.
Especially in the 1970s, Central was at its peak, before limited space forced institutions and foot traffic to spill over into Sheung Wan, Admiralty, and Wan Chai. It was livelier than ever.
Lin brought his sisters here to shop and enjoy themselves. Although the Lin family was now wealthy and Lin had given each of his sisters one million Hong Kong dollars to spend, they had barely used any of it—their old mindset had not yet changed.
At the same time, Lin planned to buy gifts for the entire family. Ever since making his fortune, he had never bought anything truly nice for them, so this was the perfect opportunity.
For his parents, he bought two jade Buddha pendants—the kind worn around the neck. He had originally wanted to buy very high-end ones, but Lin Shufang said their parents would be afraid to wear something too expensive, worrying about damaging it. So they chose ones priced in the tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars.
In this era, that was already a high price. But compared with Lin's current wealth, it was very cheap.
For his sisters, Lin bought each of them a luxury ladies' watch. As for rings or necklaces, he decided to leave those for them to buy themselves—or for their future boyfriends to gift.
Luxury watches were not cheap either. Lin also bought one for himself, and then another ladies' watch, which he asked the store to wrap.
"Brother, who is that one for?" Lin Qin asked. She knew it wasn't for their mother.
"You'll find out later," Lin said with a smile.
"It must be for a girl you like, right?" Lin Qin hummed confidently.
Lin Shufang immediately joined in. "Little brother, you have someone you like? Who is she? Bring her home for me and Mom and Dad to meet."
"Don't listen to our little sister's nonsense," Lin said helplessly. "If I were giving a gift to a girl I liked, it would be a ring or a necklace—not a watch."
In truth, the watch wasn't for a girl he liked. It was for a friend whose birthday was coming soon. It was meant as a birthday gift—and it wasn't even as expensive as the watches the three of them were wearing.