Li Ka-shing and Ola Källenius: Are they secretly connected? No. Li Ka-shing is a 98-year-old Hong Kong billionaire behind CK Hutchison, and Ola Källenius is the 57-year-old chairman of Mercedes-Benz Group. No family or business tie between them has been reported. Below are the verified facts, dated 2026 figures, and the one name mix-up that fools most readers.
Li Ka-shing and Ola Källenius at a Glance (Updated October 2026)
| Detail | Li Ka-shing | Ola Källenius |
| Born | 29 July 1928 | 11 June 1969 |
| Age in October 2026 | 98 | 57 |
| Known as | Hong Kong business magnate, investor, philanthropist | Chairman of the Board of Management, Mercedes-Benz Group |
| Main company | CK Hutchison and CK Asset | Mercedes-Benz Group AG |
| Current position | Adviser to the group since retiring in 2018 | Chairman, appointed until May 2029 |
| Wealth or pay | About US$45.1 billion (Forbes Hong Kong list, 2026) | Net worth not public. 2025 pay about €8.8 million |
| Children | Two sons, Victor and Richard | Three sons |
Are Li Ka-shing and Ola Källenius Connected?
No Family Relationship or Direct Partnership
I checked company pages, major business media and official Mercedes-Benz and CK Hutchison sources. None shows a family link, a joint venture, a shared board seat or a reported meeting between the two men. The shared “search pairing” is a habit of the internet, not a business story.
Do Not Confuse Li Ka-shing with Li Shufu of Geely
Here is the mix-up. Li Shufu chairs the Chinese carmaker Geely and is a different person. In 2018, he bought a 9.69% stake in Daimler, then the parent of Mercedes-Benz, which made him its largest single shareholder at the time.
Mercedes-Benz’s own investor page shows today’s picture: BAIC Group is now the largest single shareholder with 9.98% of voting rights, and Li Shufu holds 9.69% through Tenaciou3 Prospect Investment Limited. The Kuwait Investment Authority holds about 5.33% as of 30 June 2026.
So when you read that “Li” owns a big slice of Mercedes-Benz, that is Li Shufu. Li Ka-shing does not appear among the major shareholders named on the company’s page.
Why People Search for Them Together
Both men lead global companies with large exposure to China, and both appear in business rankings. Many low-quality sites also publish “pair” pages for unrelated public figures, which pushes the two names together in search results.
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Who Is Li Ka-shing?
Sir Li Ka-shing is a Hong Kong billionaire, business magnate, investor and philanthropist, born on 29 July 1928. In Hong Kong, he is nicknamed “Superman” for his deal-making.
Age and Early Life
At 98, he is one of the oldest billionaires still publicly tied to the group he built. He worked as a plastic goods salesman from 1944 to 1949 and then started Cheung Kong Industries in 1950. His first fortune came from manufacturing plastic flowers after the war.
Career and Business Empire
The defining move came in 1979. Li bought a substantial shareholding in Hutchison Whampoa from the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank and became the first Chinese to take control of a British-style trading house in Hong Kong.
The initial stake was about 23%, and he raised his equity to 49.9% by 2004. Cheung Kong also acquired Hongkong Electric Holdings in 1985. From that base, his group spread into container ports, property, retail, utilities, infrastructure and telecoms.
He also served as a senior adviser to the Chinese government on Hong Kong’s 1997 handover and sat on the committee that drafted the Basic Law.
Retirement and Succession
Li announced his retirement on 16 March 2018. He stayed on as an adviser to the group after stepping down in May. His son Victor Li took over the leadership, and the main listed companies today are CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings.
Li Ka-shing’s Age, Family and Net Worth
Family
Li married Chong Yuet-ming in 1962, and she died in 1990. They had two sons, Victor and Richard. Richard Li runs Pacific Century and is also well known in Hong Kong business.
Net Worth in 2026
A wealth figure only means something with a date. Forbes’ 2026 Hong Kong Rich List put Li at US45.1billionandnamedhimHongKong’srichestpersonforasixthstraightyear.OnForbes’wider2026worldranking,hesits42ndwithaboutUS47 billion. Sites that quote a higher round number without naming Forbes and a date are not reliable. Check Forbes’ live profile before you quote a current value.
Honours and Recognition
The Hong Kong government awarded him the Grand Bauhinia Medal, the city’s highest honour, for his entrepreneurial achievements and his support for charity, education and community services.
Britain also made him a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, a KBE, in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to British industry and medical research. That is why he is often written as Sir Li Ka-shing.
Philanthropy
He founded the Li Ka Shing Foundation in 1980 and chairs it. Its work centres on education and healthcare, and the Foundation’s own site is the best place to confirm current program figures.
Latest News: The CK Hutchison Ports Sale
This is the biggest Li related story of 2026: a US$22.8 billion deal to sell CK Hutchison’s global ports that has been stuck between Washington, Beijing and Panama. Here is the verified timeline.
| When | What happened |
| Early 2025 | CK Hutchison announced plans to sell 43 ports in 23 countries to a group led by BlackRock and the MSC shipping family’s Terminal Investment. |
| March 2025 | China’s market regulator opened an antitrust review that effectively halted the sale. |
| January 2026 | The company explored a split sale in smaller parcels, with China’s COSCO Shipping taking larger stakes in some regions. |
| February 2026 | A Panama court ruling annulling CK Hutchison’s two canal port concessions was formally published. |
| April 2026 | Bloomberg reported that China Merchants Group was in talks to join the buyer consortium. |
The two Panama ports account for about 4% of the deal’s value, so analysts said a sale could still go ahead without them. I found no report that the full deal has closed as of 20 October 2026. For readers following Li’s business, this is the story to watch.
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Who Is Ola Källenius?
Ola Källenius was born on 11 June 1969 in Västervik, Sweden, and became Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, now Mercedes-Benz Group AG, on 22 May 2019. Bloomberg described him as a quiet, race car-loving executive and the first non-German to lead the company.
Age, Early Life and Education
He is 57. Swedish business press reports that his parents are Ann-Margret and Hans Källenius, and that his father later became chief executive of the brewer Pripps. He finished military service in 1988 and 1989, then studied at the Stockholm School of Economics and at the University of St. Gallen, where he completed the CEMS master’s program in international management.
Ola Källenius’s Career at Mercedes-Benz
Career Timeline
| Year | Role |
| 1993 | Joined Daimler-Benz as a trainee |
| 1995 | Corporate controlling at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa, USA |
| 2000 to 2002 | Procurement roles in Stuttgart |
| 2003 | Executive Director of Operations at McLaren Automotive, UK |
| 2005 | Managing Director of Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, Brixworth |
| 2009 | Vice President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA |
| 2015 | Joined the Daimler Board of Management |
| 2019 | Became Chairman of the Board of Management |
These steps come from published profiles of his career, including his years at McLaren and Brixworth and his 2009 US role. He has been on the Board of Management since 1 January 2015.
Contract Until May 2029
The Supervisory Board extended his contract in 2023 until 21 May 2029. That makes him one of the longest-serving heads of the group in recent years.
Strategy and 2026 Highlights
Källenius is steering Mercedes-Benz toward the premium and luxury end of the market, electric and software-defined cars, and closer ties with Chinese tech firms. In March 2026, he spoke at the China Development Forum about partnerships with ByteDance, Tencent, Alibaba and Momenta. In November 2025, he met Samsung and LG leaders in South Korea.
The pressure is real. Profit nearly halved in 2025 because of tariffs, currency swings and tough competition in China, and global sales fell 9% to about 1.8 million cars. The company launched a savings program in response.
Ola Källenius’s Family and Personal Life
He is married with three sons. Wikipedia names his wife as Sabine and describes her as an environmental activist linked to the Green Globe Organisation. That detail comes from secondary sources, because Mercedes-Benz does not publish family information, so treat it as publicly reported rather than officially confirmed. He is a Swede who has built his career in Germany, the UK and the USA.
Net Worth and Lifestyle Comparison
Why There Is No Fixed Net Worth for Källenius
Li’s wealth is mostly shares in companies he built so that Forbes can estimate it. Källenius is a salaried executive, and no reliable public source states his personal net worth. What is public is his pay, because German listed companies must report it.
Källenius’s Pay in 2025
Mercedes-Benz reported total pay of about €8.8 million for Källenius for 2025, against about €12.5 million the year before, a fall of roughly 30%. Most of the package is variable and tied to company results, so the profit drop cut his bonus. For comparison, SAP’s chief executive earned just over €16.2 million for 2025.
Lifestyle
Neither man publishes a luxury lifestyle feed. Li is known for plain personal habits and a long record of giving, and Källenius for his motorsport background. Any page that lists houses, cars or watches for either man without a named source is guessing.
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Career Paths Compared
Founder Investor versus Corporate Executive
Li started a company and grew it through acquisitions across many industries. Källenius rose through one company over more than 30 years and now runs it for shareholders, under a contract set by a supervisory board.
| Point | Li Ka-shing | Ola Källenius |
| Path | Founder and deal maker | Career executive |
| Industry reach | Ports, property, retail, utilities, telecoms | Premium and luxury cars |
| Control | Controlling shareholder of the CK group | Appointed chairman of the board of management |
| Succession | Passed leadership to Victor Li in 2018 | Term runs to May 2029 |
| 2026 headline | Ports sale and Forbes ranking | Lower profit, lower pay, China partnerships |
Awards, Honors and Recognition
For Li, the best documented honours are the Grand Bauhinia Medal and the British KBE described above. For Källenius, I found no major state honour confirmed by an official source, so none is listed here. His recognition comes mainly through his leadership of Mercedes-Benz and its place in executive pay and business rankings.
Height, Social Media and Public Profile
I could not find a reliable source for the height of either man, so no number is given. Pages that print one are usually guessing. I also did not find an official personal account for either man that serves as a verified news source. For accurate updates, follow CK Hutchison and Mercedes-Benz corporate announcements.
Where Are They Now? (October 2026)
Li Ka-shing is 98, remains an adviser to the group, and his companies are still working through the port sale. Ola Källenius is 57, leads Mercedes-Benz through a cost-cutting phase, and has a contract that runs to May 2029.
Final Thoughts
Li Ka-shing and Ola Källenius share a search term, not a story. One is a founder who bought into Hong Kong’s old trading houses and built a global group. The other is a Swedish executive steering a German luxury carmaker through tariffs and a China slowdown.
Remember four facts: their ages (98 and 57), Li’s dated wealth figure (US$45.1 billion on the Forbes Hong Kong list), Källenius’s 2025 pay (about €8.8 million), and that Li Shufu of Geely, not Li Ka-shing, is the Mercedes-Benz shareholder.
FAQ’s About Li Ka-shing and Ola Källenius
Who are Li Ka-shing and Ola Källenius?
Li Ka-shing is a Hong Kong billionaire and founder of the CK Group. Ola Källenius is the chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group.
Are they related or business partners?
No relationship or partnership has been reported.
How old are they in 2026?
Li is 98, born 29 July 1928. Källenius is 57, born 11 June 1969.
What is Li Ka-shing’s net worth?
Forbes’ 2026 Hong Kong list put it at US45.1billion,anditsworldlistataboutUS47 billion. Check Forbes’ live profile for a current value.
What is Ola Källenius’s net worth?
It is not public. His reported 2025 total pay was about €8.8 million.
Is Li Ka-shing the same as Li Shufu?
No. Li Shufu chairs Geely and holds 9.69% of Mercedes-Benz Group.
Until when is Källenius CEO of Mercedes-Benz?
His appointment runs until May 2029.
Who runs Li Ka-shing’s business now?
His son Victor Li leads the group after Li’s 2018 retirement.
I’m Elyon Marwood, the voice behind BlessWithUs. Writing has always been more than just words for me; it’s a way to share faith, spread hope, and bring light into someone’s day. Through heartfelt blessings, meaningful prayers, and uplifting messages, I create moments that help you slow down, feel at peace, and reconnect with what truly matters. Every piece I write carries a purpose to comfort your heart, strengthen your faith, and remind you that even in the quietest moments, you are deeply guided, loved, and blessed.
