Sir Y. K. Pao (Pao Yue-kong), 1918–1991, rose from modest origins to become, by the mid-1970s, the world’s largest private ship-owner. His Hong Kong- based company World-Wide Shipping diversified into property, hotels, retail, media, telecommunications, airlines and banking—a hugely influential business empire at a time of rapid regional growth. A philanthropist with extensive international connections, Pao became an unofficial Chinese ambassador at large, forging a strong relationship with the architect of China’s reform, Deng Xiaoping, at the dawn of China’s economic transformation and during the discussions about Hong Kong’s future.