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Why the 137-year-old developer Hongkong Land is reinventing itself—and trying to loosen its ties to its home city

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Why the 137-year-old developer Hongkong Land is reinventing itself—and trying to loosen its ties to its home city

In the mid-1990s, when Percy Weatherall was CEO of Hongkong Land and Michael Smith was a junior property cadet at Jones Lang Wootton, Weatherall offered Smith a job. Smith turned him down as he was already committed to UBS in Sydney. Weatherall, Smith recalls, “wasn’t very happy. I don’t think he had many people say no to him.” 

Three decades later, Smith sat in that same corner office, newly installed as the company’s CEO. At his welcome dinner, he tracked down Weatherall and reminded him of the episode. The former boss had forgotten it entirely.

Hongkong Land is one of Hong Kong’s most storied developers. Founded in 1889, it’s the largest commercial landlord in Hong Kong’s Central district, owner of 4.8 million square feet of prime office and retail property in the city’s commercial heart: Exchange Square, home to the stock exchange; Jardine House, with agovernment-protected harbor view; and the Landmark retail........

© Fortune