Ka-Ching! On The Money with Dylan Ratigan

Look at this guy's name.... Nnnnnnoooooooooooooooooo- that wouldve been gold, gold I tell you.....,nnnnnnoooooooooo

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From: Bird, Laura (NBC Universal, WSJ)
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Sent: Thu Nov 01 19:12:25 2007
Subject: MEET CHINESE BILLIONAIRE LI KA-SHING // EMBARGO MIDNITE

EMBARGO MIDNITE

BILLIONAIRE LI KA-SHING, chairman of Hutchison-wampoa, INTRODUCES REVOLUTIONARY CONCEPT IN CHINA: PHILANTHROP



By Kate Linebaugh

And Jane Spencer

Shantou, China

Li Ka-shing, Asia’s richest man, is shaking up philanthropy in China.

While multibillion-dollar donations by Western entrepreneurs such as

Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Mexico’s Carlos Slim are turning private wealth

into a force for tackling social problems, philanthropy remains a radical

concept in China. The Communist Party has long stymied privately funded

institutions, from churches to schools, viewing them as a threat to its grip on

power. And traditional Confucian beliefs hold that charitable donations should

be done quietly, so as not to extract personal benefit from altruism.

Now, Mr. Li, the chairman of Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa

Ltd., is leading a growing group of wealthy Chinese who are challenging

tradition and embracing a more open approach to giving. Last year, Mr. Li

announced plans to give a third of his fortune—a pledge estimated at more than

$10 billion—to his foundations that fund philanthropic projects around the

world. The move will give the Li Ka-shing Foundation an endowment that rivals

the $11 billion Ford Foundation, the second largest U.S. philanthropy after the

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

“In the U.S., philanthropic support from entrepreneurs is tightly

integrated into the fabric of society, whether it’s health care, medical

research or education,” the 79-year-old Mr. Li said during a rare interview

about his philanthropic work. “Now, slowly, China will know this.”

Dozens of high-profile Chinese entrepreneurs are following Mr. Li’s

lead. Yang Lan, a prominent talk-show host who is often dubbed the Chinese Oprah

Winfrey, has donated an estimated $72 million to set up a foundation aimed at

cultural exchanges, environmental protection and education, according to the

Hurun Report, a publication that tracks philanthropy in China. Yu Pengnian, the

85-year-old head of the Chinese luxury-hotel empire Shenzhen Pengnian Hotels,

has donated close to $270 million, roughly 80% of his net worth, to health-care

causes, including funding cataract operations for thousands in rural China,

Hurun Report says. And Niu Gensheng, chief executive of Mengniu Dairy Group, has

donated all his shares in one of China’s largest milk companies—valued at nearly

$600 million—to a foundation devoted to agriculture, education and medical

endeavors, according to the company.

The Chinese government is gradually becoming more open to philanthropic

giving as capitalism generates new concerns about wealth disparity. While the

average wage in China is less than $200 a month, some 500,000 Chinese have a net

worth over $1 million, and China is home to about 106 billionaires, according to

Hurun Report.

“As the wealth gap grows, the government is concerned about growing

social discord because the poor are being left out,” says John Peralta, managing

director of the consulting firm Global Philanthropic in Hong Kong. China will

eventually “embrace philanthropy as a way to maintain social harmony,” he

predicts.

But today, many factors work against private giving in China. One is the

region’s long tradition of family money remaining within a family. “In Asia, our

traditional values encourage and even demand that wealth and means pass through

lineage as an imperative duty,” Mr. Li said last September, shortly after he

announced the donation. He called on Asia to “transcend this traditional

belief.”

China has no comprehensive law on charitable giving. There’s no

requirement, for instance, that charities disclose information on their

activities or works, which can lead to suspicions among the public about their

activities. Moreover, Beijing still requires that all donations be funneled

through the government.

But the government is growing more accepting of philanthropy. A major

report released at the 17th Party Congress in October said China’s

social-welfare programs should be “complemented with charity programs.” “There

are high expectations for a comprehensive law on philanthropy in China,” says

Liu Youping, chief editor of China Philanthropy Times, which is published by the

Ministry of Civil Affairs. The ministry couldn’t be reached for comment.

In the meantime, donors tend to stick to causes considered “safe,” like

health care, to avoid conflicts with officials. But not even all health-related

donations pass muster. Earlier this year, the government shut several offices of

the China Orchid AIDS Project, which provided funding to AIDS patients, and

detained the organization’s head. Many saw the move as a warning to charities

about the risks of getting involved with causes considered controversial by the

government.

In China, Mr. Li has stuck to relatively uncontroversial causes, such as

education. At a leafy university campus near his childhood home in southern

China, Mr. Li has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build Shantou

University, and is helping shape the school’s unusually global curriculum.

Starbucks Coffee Co. founder Howard Schultz lectured students on

business ethics last year. Former CNN correspondent Peter Arnett has been

teaching journalism since February. Three U.S. congressmen came through in April

to discuss the U.S. political system. And a crew of former NBA stars was

recently hired to help Shantou’s basketball squad with their bounce passes.

Born in China in 1928, Mr. Li fled to Hong Kong with his family in 1940

after Japanese troops began bombing his village. In his teens, he lost his

father to tuberculosis and had to drop out of school, which he never formally

finished. From then, Mr. Li saved his paychecks from a Hong Kong watch factory

and, in his early 20s, bought a plastics factory that became the largest

supplier of plastic flowers in Asia. The father of two says he had enough money

at 30 to last his entire life.

Now, as chairman of Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong, he sits on top of

a business empire that operates in 55 countries and employs 220,000 people

working in retail, telecommunications and ports. His personal stake is valued at

over $30 billion.

In Hong Kong, his rags-to-riches story has bred as much resentment as

admiration. Many locals refer to the 5-foot 6-inch Mr. Li as “Superman” for his

ability to time markets. His detractors resent the control his businesses have

over the economy of the capitalist enclave, and at times have attacked his

philanthropy.

In 2005, Mr. Li’s foundation gave one billion Hong Kong dollars (about

US$128 million) to the medical school of Hong Kong University, which renamed the

school the Li Ka-shing Faculty of Medicine. That prompted street protests by

some university graduates who said it amounted to Mr. Li buying the name of a

storied institution. Mr. Li dismisses the accusations as “jealousy,” and says

his donations don’t have any correlation to his business interests.

While Western philanthropists face increasing pressure to bring

accountability and transparency to their work, Mr. Li’s charitable deeds remain

opaque. He won’t provide any estimate of his net worth, or the exact amount he

plans to give away. He says he is “70% of the way” toward donating a third of

his fortune to the foundation, though he won’t disclose how much that is.

Mr. Li is spry, sharp and very engaged in his work. He says he wakes

around 5 a.m. and plays golf about four times a week. He wears an inexpensive

Seiko wristwatch, which he sets 20 minutes fast.

His project at Shantou has grown from an empty field 20 years ago into a

compact campus with a man-made lake, nine schools—including one of China’s best

medical schools—and a $20 million library that is under construction. For nearly

two decades, Mr. Li passively funded the school, and left the curriculum in the

hands of government bureaucrats. But several years ago, when the school’s

mission seemed adrift, Mr. Li assigned Solina Chau, his personal companion and

the director of the Li Ka-shing Foundation, to take a more active role in the

school’s affairs.

Since then, Ms. Chau, who provides much of the strategic vision that

drives Mr. Li’s foundation, brought in a new cast of academics, administrators

and scientists largely educated outside of China as part of an effort to turn a

second-rate college in a depressed coastal town into one of China’s top

universities.

The changes haven’t been easy. Even the smallest have involved

negotiations with local officials, the local Communist Party and the

university’s state employees. The university, for example, was reluctant to keep

the cafeteria open most of the day, as many Western universities do, to allow

students more flexible schedules. At Chinese universities, cafeterias are open

for only a brief window at lunch and dinner.

China’s educational system has traditionally stressed rote memorization

over critical thinking. But the educators at Shantou are trying to create a new

educational paradigm for China that is more open to debate, discussion,

creativity and freedom. “If you can’t do it in a university, how can you do it

in society?” says Gu Peihua, the university’s vice president, who moved to

Shantou from Calgary, Canada. “You’re changing people’s behavior.”

—Sue Feng contributed to this article.



Laura Bird

News Editor

The Wall Street Journal/CNBC

201/735-3073

Monday post

-----Original Message-----
From: Navarro, Peter <PeterNav@uci.edu>
To: McCandless, Bill (NBC Universal, CNBC)
Sent: Sun Apr 15 20:00:50 2007
Subject: Ka Ching Post and Possible Segment

Hey BIll,

Here's a Ka-Ching! post and fodder for a possible segment.

best,

peter navarro


POST FOR Ka-Ching! Blog



GETTING RICH ON GLOBAL WARMING

Just about everyone agrees something needs to be done about global warming, but there still is no consensus on just what to do. The most efficient policy economically is simply to tax CO2 emissions, but this solution is the least politically viable. A second approach would be to subsidize efforts to cut CO2 emissions – from promoting wind farms to helping industry pay for its pollution control technologies – but that is a recipe for breaking the government bank. That leaves carbon emission trading – a $30 billion industry which will grow close to 20% annually over the next several years.

Peter Navarro is a CNBC contributor, business professor at the University of California-Irvine, and author of The Coming China Wars <http://www.amazon.com/dp/0132281287?tag=peternavarroc-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0132281287&adid=1DMQEJ3T6V1FT635Z3FX&> . His commentary provides some useful background for investors on the coming boom in emissions trading – and how investors might be able to capitalize on that boom.


WHAT IS EMISSIONS TRADING AND WHO IS DOING IT?


The biggest emissions trading program is the European pilot project set up under the Kyoto Protocol but Great Britain, Japan, Australia, and the state of California are all considering instituting programs.

The idea of an emissions trading program is for the government to first set a cap on emissions at a target level. Then the government issues permits to companies that tell them how much they are allowed to pollute over time. If a company pollutes less than its target, it can sell its credits. If it pollutes more, it pays a penalty and must buy credits.

The European program also allows companies to create new credits which can be traded by funding emissions-reducing projects such as wind power in poorer countries. China, by the way, dominates this market, with nearly two thirds of new credits.


WHAT CAN GO WRONG?


In order for emissions trading to work correctly, the government has to set the various industry caps at levels low enough to provide for meaningful carbon reductions. Because industry lobbyists are powerful, that might not happen. This is the problem that has plagued the pilot project being run by the Eurozone under the banner of the Kyoto Treaty. The targets were far too easy to meet. As a result, the price of credits has plunged, and rather than reduce emissions under the program, emissions will actually rise.

This is not the only problem. If implemented poorly, the result can be extreme inefficiency. A case in point was offered up recently by Nature magazine. It cost $6 billion to reduce emissions of the HFC-23, a powerful greenhouse gas, which could have been reduced by buying about $130 million of equipment upgrades.

The biggest problem of all is that polluters may game the system by building heavily polluting facilities which they can then make a buck off of by cleaning up and selling credits.


HOW CAN IINVESTORS MAKE MONEY OFF GLOBAL WARMING AND EMISIONS TRADING?


Carbon emissions trading already is very big business – close to $30 billion a year and rising rapidly. One play here is Goldman Sachs. It has bought a 10% stake in the London-listed carbon trader Climate Exchange. More broadly, a report by Credit Suisse recently recommended buying 14 stocks “including Toshiba, the biggest Japanese supplier of nuclear power reactors; NGK, a maker of exhaust filters; and Toyota Motor, the maker of the world's best-selling gasoline-electric hybrid cars. … More than 100 new nuclear reactors are scheduled for construction worldwide by 2020.”

Emissions trading systems will provide a further boost to renewable energy and pollution control technologies. Those companies that can provide technologies to reduce carbon most cost effectively, will reap the greatest rewards.

Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts telling us Friday ight there is no consideration of such an offer- nor will there be an offer for Interpublic. Saturday's NY Post reports the company is considering the bid, guess they didn't bother listening to board member Roberts who told us : "Why would we be interested in doing that? You would create a big media company. It would be a backwards company. I would hope with the industry moving the way it's moving, we would look more forward. Interpublic looks like rear view mirror."

Earlier Friday AdAge reported: Publicis Groupe is expected to conduct preliminary internal discussions next week about whether to attempt an acquisition of Interpublic Group of Cos., a move that would combine two of the ad industry's largest players and create a $12 billion leviathan with a client list topped by the world's two largest automakers and two of the world's largest package-goods players.

let's start with Apple- closing in on $100- it is an iPod/Mac Christmas- the stock is telling you the things are selling faster than ever, also the game wars are stunning today the Wii and PS3 and Xbox fighting it out- and the winner may be clear today- plus Time Warner- we spent a lot of time hammering the way this company has been run- and now- as we noted recently- its getting better- much better- we'll explain why- and changing gears- NASCAR is not doing so well- once the up and coming sport- now its having engine trouble- how will that impact companies who spent big on cars and races. citi -vs- BofA- the bank battle to end all bank battles- can Prince save it? Has Ken already won? And Traveling either got really easy in Ny or really bad in NY- we'll explain why a new plan for check in designed to make life easier- may have the opposite effect.

Phew!

Ka-Ching!

Remember those ads? Anyway- it looks like EMI is for sale and it is a bidding war- with even Bidu.com involved {!?} Also today- WE HATE OIL SPECULATORS! And we'll have a few on tonight and rough them up over oil's new spike based on, gasp! COLD WEATHER!!!!! Oh NO! NOT COLD WEATHER- you'd think its Winter or something crazy like that!!!!

Anyway- what is Barry Diller up to- oh sure he's bashing the NYT- who doesn't!! But it's his spending of cash on the web sites that has us interested- he can't compete with the big boys- so is he beefing it up to sell it to some dumb media company? What's his plan?! We're diving in-

Also- we call WTF on Joe Kennedy- those Teeth- that hair... anyway he's cut a new deal with the mayor of Bad Guy Island for more cheap oil- wait until you see the TV ads Joe K. is running! Talk about trading with the enemy! And is Dell for sale?!?!?

Ka-Ching!

Google roars thru $500- so is 600 or 400 next? We'll Blow Out Goog tonight and see what impact this giant is having on Madison Ave and on something called a Widget. Also- how good will Santa be to Apple? We hear some interesting things about supply and demand this season- and it could impact the stock. Also- the battle is over and XBox may be the winner- we'll show you why the Mr. Softie platform may already be the king of the box. Plus Jerry Bruckheimer has made billions at the box office- so how does he do business? How does he choose movies and why is he always right?! And making money off geeks who don't know how to date. It's a story you have never seen before!!

Ka-Ching ! !

Yup- merger monday- Love the way Dealbreaker put it- is this the end of public companies?!?!? We hope so!! Because the break up value of GE has gotta be like $120!!!!

Anyway- Mark Mullen of NBC takes us inside the pirate markets of China as the US tries to get China to crack down on copyright issues- see for your self how well that is going. Second Life that video game we told you about long before anyone else has a whole new problem- but their solution could change the way everyone in business solves these problems. James Bond does $40m and we want to know- when are too many ads- too many ads and people stop going.

We got a lot of stuff tonight- that's great trust us!

Ka-Ching!

So who in their right mind would but time on this OJ murder confession show that FOX is putting up?! We're investigating. Also The big Ka-Ching of the NYMEX IPO, and is this market racing to the top mean shoppers will be racing to the malls? And who wins when web sites put up the black Friday ads before they hit your newspaper. And he's the one man who has more to do with McDonald's success than anyone else- and you'll meet him tonight and see what he's doing next.

Ka-Ching!