A chief executive officer (CEO, American English), managing director (MD, British English),^[1] executive director (ED, American English) for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer (executive) or administrator in charge of total management of an organization. An individual appointed as a CEO of a corporation, company, organization, or agency typically reports to the board of directors.

Responsibilities[link]

The responsibilities of an organization's CEO (US) or MD (UK) are set by the organization's board of directors or other authority, depending on the organization's legal structure. They can be far-reaching or quite limited and are typically enshrined in a formal delegation of authority.

Typically, the CEO/MD has responsibilities as a communicator, decision maker, leader, and manager. The communicator role can involve the press and the rest of the outside world, as well as the organization's management and employees; the decision-making role involves high-level decisions about policy and strategy. As a leader, the CEO/MD advises the board of directors, motivates employees, and drives change within the organization. As a manager, the CEO/MD presides over the organization's day-to-day, month-to-month, and year-to-year operations.^[2]

International use[link]

In some European Union countries, there are two separate boards, one executive board for the day-to-day business and one supervisory board for control purposes (selected by the shareholders). In these countries, the CEO presides over the executive board and the chairman presides over the supervisory board, and these two roles will always be held by different people. This ensures a distinction between management by the executive board and governance by the supervisory board. This allows for clear lines of authority. The aim is to prevent a conflict of interest and too much power being concentrated in the hands of one person. In the United States, the board of directors (elected by the shareholders) is often equivalent to the supervisory board, while the executive board may often be known as the executive committee (the division/subsidiary heads and C-level officers that report directly to the CEO).

In other parts of the world, such as Asia, it is possible to have two or three CEOs in charge of one corporation. In the UK, many charities and government agencies are headed by a chief executive who answers to a board of trustees or board of directors. In the UK, similar to a sizable percentage of public companies in the US, the chairman of the board in public companies is more senior than the chief executive (who is usually known as the managing director).

The following presents an alphabetical list of some international common terms for the CEO position:

• Albanian: Administrator i Përgjithshëm
• Arabic: الرئيس التنفيذي‎ (eg)Al-Ra'ees Al-Tanfizi / (sa)Al-Ra'ees Al-Tanfithee (Chief Executive)
• Australia: general manager (GM) (or also managing director (MD), but only when the executive officeholder is also a member of the board of directors)
• Belarusian: Генеральны дырэктар
• Bengali: মহাপরিচালক/ব্যবস্থাপনা পরিচালক/প্রধান নির্বাহী কর্মকর্তা (Director General/GM/MD/CEO)
• Bosnian: Generalni direktor / Izvršni direktor
• Bulgarian: Генерален директор / Изпълнителен директор Generalen direktor/Izpalnitelen direktor
• Chinese: 首席执行官 / 行政總裁 Shǒuxí zhíxíng guān / xíngzhèng zǒngcái (Chief Executive Officer)
• Croatian: Izvršni direktor
• Czech: Generální ředitel/Výkonný ředitel
• Danish: Administrerende Direktør (administrating director) (Adm.Dir.)
• Dutch: Algemeen Directeur (general manager)
• Estonian: Tegevdirektor (executive director)
• Finnish: Toimitusjohtaja (executive director) (TJ)
• French: Président-directeur général (chairman & chief executive) (PDG)
• Galician: Director Executivo / Director xeral
• German: Geschäftsführer (GmbH) or German: Vorstand (AG)
• Georgian: გენერალური დირექტორი (General director)
• Greek: Διευθύνων Σύμβουλος Diefthinon Symvoulos (Managing Director)
• Hebrew: מנכ"ל/מנהל כללי‎ Mankal/Menahel Klali (DG/Director General)
• Hungarian: ügyvezető igazgató
• Icelandic: Forstjóri / Framkvæmdastjóri
• Hindi: मुख्य कार्यकारी अधिकारी
• India: CEO or managing director (MD)
• Indonesian: Presiden Direktur (Presdir) or, increasingly less common, Direktur Utama (Dirut) Direktur-Direksi (term based on Law nr. 40 / 2007)
• Irish: Príomhoifigeach Feidhmiúcháin (POF)
• Italian: Amministratore Delegato (delegated administrator) (AD)
• Japanese: 最高経営責任者 Saikō-keiei-sekinin-sha (Chief Executive Officer)
• Korean: 최고경영책임자 choe-go-gyeong-young-chek-ime-ja (Chief Executive Officer)
• Kurdish: Serokê/a Pêkanîna Civatê
• Latvian: Valdes priekšsēdētājs (chairman of the board)
• Lithuanian: Generalinis direktorius (general director)
• Macedonian: Извршен директор (izvrshen direktor - executive director) or also Macedonian: Генерален директор (generalen direktor - general director)
• Maltese: Kap eżekuttiv (Chief Executive)
• Mongolian: Ерөнхий захирал, Ерөнхийлөгч, Гүйцэтгэх захирал
• Norwegian: Administrerende Direktør (administrating director) (adm. dir.)
• Persian: مدیر عامل‎ Modir Aamel (Chief Executive)
• Pakistan|چیف ایگزیکٹو آفیسر}} Chif Igzikutu Afisr (Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director)
• Polish: Dyrektor Generalny (general director)
• Portuguese: Diretor executivo / Diretor-geral / Presidente / Administrador-delegado
• Romanian: Președintele consiliului de administrație (PCA)
• Russian: Генеральный директор, Главный исполнительный директор (generalnyi direktor – general director)
• Serbian: Генерални директор / Извршни директор (управник)
• Sinhala: ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිලධාරී / කළමනාකාර අධ්‍යක්ෂක (CEO / MD)
• Slovak: Generálny riaditeľ
• Slovene: Generalni direktor / Izvršni direktor
• Spanish: director ejecutivo, director general, gerente general o consejero delegado (executive director)
• Somali: Maamule Guud / Agaasime (CEO / MG)
• Swedish: verkställande direktör (VD)
• Tamil: தலைமை நிறைவேற்று அலுவலர் / முகாமைத்துவ இயக்குநர் (CEO / MD)
• Telugu: ముఖ్య కార్యనిర్వాహక అధికారి / నిర్వాహకుడు (CEO / MD)
• Thai: ประธานบริหาร / กรรมการผู้จัดการ (CEO / MD)
• Tagalog: Punong Tagapagpaganap (CEO / PT)
• Turkish: Genel Müdür, Yönetim Kurulu Başkanı
• Ukrainian: Головний виконавчий директор (Holovnyi vykonavchyi dyrektor - Head executive director), also Генеральний директор (Heneral'nyi dyrektor – General director)
• Urdu: چیف ایگزیکٹو آفیسر Chif Igzikutu Afisr (Chief Executive Officer)
• Vietnamese: Giám đốc điều hành
• Malay: Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif, Pengarah Urusan, Pengarah Eksekutif
• Swahili: Meneja Mkuu

In the United States, and in business, the executive officers are usually the top officers of a corporation, the chief executive officer (CEO) being the best-known type. The definition varies; for instance, the California Corporate Disclosure Act defines "Executive Officers" as the five most highly compensated officers not also sitting on the board of directors. In the case of a sole proprietorship, an executive officer is the sole proprietor. In the case of a partnership, an executive officer is a managing partner, senior partner, or administrative partner. In the case of a limited liability company, an executive officer is any member, manager, or officer.

Related positions[link]

Typically, a CEO has several subordinate executives, each of whom has specific functional responsibilities.

Common associates include a chief business development officer (CBDO), chief financial officer (CFO), chief operating officer (COO), chief marketing officer (CMO), chief information officer (CIO), chief communications officer (CCO), chief legal officer (CLO), chief technology officer (CTO), chief risk officer (CRO), chief creative officer (CCO), chief compliance officer (CCO), chief audit executive (CAE), chief diversity officer (CDO), or chief human resources officer (CHRO).

Hospitals and healthcare organizations also often include a chief medical officer (CMO), a chief nursing officer (CNO), and a chief medical informatics officer (CMIO).

In the United Kingdom the term 'director' is used instead of 'chief officer'. Associates include the audit executive, business development director, chief executive, compliance director, creative director, director of communications, diversity director, financial director, human resources director, information technology director, legal affairs director, managing director (MD), marketing director, operations director and technical director.

See also[link]

• CEO succession
• Executive officer
• List of CEO books
• List of chief executive officers
• O*NET

• United States Department of Labor

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chief executive officers

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Top Executives: Description and Outlook
• 2008–2010 Study: CEOs Who Fired Most Workers Earned Highest Pay – video report by Democracy Now!

Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos 2005
Born	Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen (1964-01-12) January 12, 1964 (age 48) Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
Alma mater	Princeton University
Occupation	Chairman and CEO of Amazon.com
Net worth	US$ 18.4 billion (2012)[1]
Awards	Time Person of the Year 1999

Jeffrey Preston "Jeff" Bezos (/beɪzəs/, born January 12, 1964) is an American entrepreneur who played a key role in the growth of e-commerce as the founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com, Inc., an online merchant of books and later of a wide variety of products. Under his guidance, Amazon.com became the largest retailer on the World Wide Web and the model for Internet sales.

Early life and career[link]

Bezos was born Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Jacklyn Gise Jorgensen and Ted Jorgensen.^[2] His maternal ancestors were settlers who lived in Texas, and over the generations acquired a 25,000 acre (101 km² or 39 miles²) ranch in Cotulla. Bezos' maternal grandfather was a regional director of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in Albuquerque. He retired early to the ranch, where Bezos spent many summers as a youth, working with him.^[3] At an early age, Bezos displayed a striking mechanical aptitude – as a toddler, he tried dismantling his crib with a screwdriver.^[4]

Bezos was born to a teenage mother in Albuquerque. Her marriage to his father lasted little more than a year. When Jeff was five, she remarried, this time to Miguel Bezos. Miguel was born in Cuba, immigrated to the United States alone when he was fifteen years old, worked his way through the University of Albuquerque, married, and legally adopted Jeff. After the marriage, the family moved to Houston, Texas, and Miguel became an engineer for Exxon. The young Bezos attended River Oaks Elementary School in Houston from fourth to sixth grade. As a child, he spent summers at his grandfather's ranch in southern Texas, "laying pipe, vaccinating cattle and fixing windmills."^[5]

Bezos often showed intense scientific interests. He rigged an electric alarm to keep his younger siblings out of his room. He converted his parents' garage into a laboratory for science projects.^{[citation needed]} The family moved to Miami, Florida, where Bezos attended Miami Palmetto Senior High School. While in high school, he attended the Student Science Training Program at the University of Florida, receiving a Silver Knight Award in 1982.^[6] He was high school valedictorian.^[7] He attended Princeton University, planning to study physics, but soon returned to his love of computers and graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering and computer science.

According to Nick Hanauer (an early investor in Amazon) and "others who know [him]"^[5], Bezos is a libertarian; such beliefs are said to have help motivate Amazon.com's aggressive "efforts to avoid collecting sales taxes on purchases made on its website" and the company's unwillingness to engage in "sponsorships, matching grants or employee volunteer programs".^[5]

Business career[link]

After graduating from Princeton University in 1986, Bezos worked on Wall Street in the computer science field.^[8] Then he worked on building a network for international trade for a company known as Fitel. He next worked at Bankers Trust, where he became vice-president. Later on he also worked in computer science for D. E. Shaw & Co.

Amazon.com[link]

Bezos founded Amazon.com in 1994 after making a cross-country drive from New York to Seattle, writing up the Amazon business plan on the way. He initially set up the company in his garage.^[9] He had left his "well-paying job" at a New York City hedge fund when he "learned about the rapid growth in Internet use", which coincided with a "then-new U.S. Supreme Court ruling [that] online retailers don't have to collect sales taxes in states where they lack a physical presence"; he had headed to Washington because its relatively small population meant fewer of his future customers would have to pay sales tax.^[5]

Amazon eventually made him one of the most prominent dot-com entrepreneurs and a billionaire. Bezos' salary as CEO was $81,840 in 2010, in addition to the $1.6 million cost of his personal security detail.^[10] He owns 20% of Amazon's stock and forgoes stock options.

According to Forbes, Amazon's shares have "defied gravity" in 2011, jumping 55% and adding $6.5 billion to his net worth.^[11]

Bezos is known for his attention to business details. As described by Portfolio.com, he "is at once a happy-go-lucky mogul and a notorious micromanager. ... an executive who wants to know about everything from contract minutiae to how he is quoted in all Amazon press releases."^[9]

Blue Origin[link]

In 2000, Bezos founded Blue Origin, a human spaceflight startup company,^[12] partially as a result of his fascination with space travel,^[13] including an early interest in developing "space hotels, amusement parks and colonies for 2 million or 3 million people orbiting the Earth."^[7] The company was kept under wraps for a half dozen years and initially became publicly known only in 2006 when purchasing a sizable aggregation of land in west Texas for a launch and test facility.^[14]

In a 2011 interview, Bezos indicated that he founded the space company to help enable "anybody to go into space" and stated that the company is committed to decreasing the cost and increasing the safety of spaceflight.^[15] Blue Origin is "one of several start-ups aiming to open up space travel to paying customers. Like Amazon, the company is secretive, but [in September 2011] revealed that it had lost an unmanned prototype vehicle during a short-hop test flight. Although this was a setback, the announcement of the loss revealed for the first time just how far Blue Origin’s team had advanced."^[13] Bezos said that the crash was 'not the outcome that any of us wanted, but we’re signed up for this to be hard.'" ^[13]

Recognition[link]

He was named Time magazine's Person of the Year in 1999.^[16] In 2008, he was selected by U.S. News & World Report as one of America's best leaders.^[17] Bezos was awarded an honorary doctorate in Science and Technology from Carnegie Mellon University in 2008. In 2011, The Economist gave Bezos and Gregg Zehr an Innovation Award for the Amazon Kindle. ^[18]

He is also a member of the Bilderberg Group and attended the Swiss 2011 Bilderberg conference in St. Moritz, Switzerland.^[19]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jeff Bezos at TED Conferences
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Jeff Bezos on Charlie Rose
• Jeff Bezos at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Jeff Bezos in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Jeff Bezos collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Jeff Bezos at the Notable Names Database
• Condé Nast Portfolio Executive Profile - Portfolio.com (August 2007)
• Inside the Mind of Jeff Bezos - Fastcompany.com (August 2004)

The Honourable Donald Tsang 曾蔭權 GBM
2nd Chief Executive of Hong Kong
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 June 2005
Preceded by	Henry Tang (acting)
Succeeded by	CY Leung
Majority	Unopposed (2005) 84.07% (2007)
In office 13 March 2005 – 24 May 2005 (acting)
Preceded by	Tung Chee-Hwa
Succeeded by	Henry Tang (acting)
Chief Secretary for Administration
In office 1 May 2001 – 25 May 2005
Preceded by	Anson Chan
Succeeded by	Michael Suen (acting)
Financial Secretary of Hong Kong
In office 1 September 1995 – 30 June 1997
Governor	Chris Patten
Preceded by	Hamish Macleod
In office 1 July 1997 – 30 April 2001
Succeeded by	Anthony Leung
Personal details
Born	(1944-10-07) 7 October 1944 (age 67) Japanese Hong Kong
Nationality	Chinese
Spouse(s)	Selina Tsang (曾鮑笑薇)
Residence	Government House
Alma mater	John F. Kennedy School of Government (MPA)
Profession	politician, civil servant
Religion	Roman Catholic

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen GBM, KBE^[1][2] (born 7 October 1944) is the current Chief Executive and President of the Executive Council of Hong Kong.

Tsang began his civil service career in 1967, occupying various positions in finance and trade in the Hong Kong Civil Service, and was appointed Financial Secretary of Hong Kong in 1995, becoming the first ethnic Chinese to hold the position under British administration. He remained in that position after the transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong before being appointed Chief Secretary for Administration after the resignation of Anson Chan. Tsang has won praise for his handling of the Hong Kong economy both as Chief Executive in the mid-2000s and as Financial Secretary in the late 1990s.^[3]

He assumed the office of Chief Executive of Hong Kong in 2005. Since his appointment, he has been criticised for the government's mishandling of a number of incidents, most notably the demolition of Queen's Pier, Political Appointments System, the Leung Chin-man appointment controversy, and the Employee Retraining Levy waiver controversy.

Personal background[link]

Early life and family[link]

Donald Tsang was born in Hong Kong on 7 October 1944. His father was an officer of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force and Tsang is the eldest of the five sons and one daughter. After completing his secondary education at Wah Yan College, Hong Kong, an eminent all male Jesuit school in Hong Kong, in 1964, he worked briefly as a salesman at Pfizer Corporation before joining the civil service.^{[citation needed]}

His younger brother Tsang Yam Pui retired as the Police Commissioner in December 2003, after a career with the police in which he worked his way up to the top job from Probationary Inspector, the only officer in the history of the force to do so.

His younger sister Katherine Tsang King-suen is chairperson of Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong).^[4][5]

Tsang is a devout Roman Catholic and goes to mass every morning, though his political viewpoints are criticised at times by Cardinal Joseph Zen.

Tsang is cousin of Daniel Heung, who resigned as chairman of the Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education^[6] for being at the centre of a scandal when the Oriental Daily News revealed on 7 August that he had transformed a warehouse site in Shatin (rented from the government in 1983) into a private residence.^[7] Heung resigned from his chairmanship position as a result.

Sartorial preference[link]

Tsang is well known for his preference of wearing a bow tie. His nickname, Bow-Tie Tsang, is widely known among Hongkongers. According to a television interview, this preference started somewhere between 1988–1993, when Tsang's office was adjacent to Deputy Political Adviser Stephen Bradley, who himself wore a bow tie. Tsang felt comfortable with the bow tie which Bradley had given him, saying that a bow tie's design brings fewer hurdles to its wearer than a necktie.^[8] His penchant for wearing bow-ties and fondness of keeping koi has been portrayed by Chinese contemporary artist Lee Shi-min in the work Hua Koi Tie (2008).

Hobbies[link]

Tsang is also well known for keeping koi. He had a pond built for them in Government House at a cost of HK$300,000.^{[citation needed]} His other hobbies include swimming, bird-watching and hiking.

Civil service (1967–2002)[link]

Tsang joined the civil service in January 1967, and he has held positions in many different government departments, ranging from finance, trade to policies relating to the transfer of Hong Kong's sovereignty from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China.

From 1981 to 1982 Tsang studied in the United States, where he completed a Master of Public Administration at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has also received honorary doctorates from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the University of Hong Kong. He was attached to the Asian Development Bank in Manila in 1977 for a year and worked on water supply and railway development projects in the Philippines and Bangladesh.

As Deputy Secretary of the General Duties Branch between 1985 and 1989, Tsang was responsible for the implementation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the promotion of the "British Nationality Selection Scheme". He served as Director-General of Trade between 1991 and 1993, and was responsible for all facets of trade negotiation and administration affecting Hong Kong. In May 1993, he was promoted to Secretary for the Treasury, where he was responsible for the overall allocation of resources, the taxation system and the cost effectiveness of the Hong Kong government.

In September 1995 Tsang was appointed Financial Secretary, becoming the first ethnic Chinese to hold the position. He was made a Knight Commander in the Order of the British Empire in 1997 for his long-time service to Hong Kong, he was knighted by Charles, Prince of Wales at Government House hours before the handover. Tsang was also awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal by the Hong Kong Government in June 2002. During his term as Financial Secretary, Hong Kong's public spending grew steadily as public revenue remained robust and government budget in surplus. Public expenditure to GDP rose to as high as 23%, though still the lowest among developed economies. He also approved a raise in civil servants' salary at the beginning of the Asian economic crisis. The salary raise was finally reversed, aligning civil servants' salary to 1997 levels.

During his six-year tenure, he steered Hong Kong through the Asian financial crisis that swept across the region in 1997 and 1998. He worked with Joseph Yam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and waged war on the speculators attacking the Hong Kong currency peg.

On 1 May 2001 former Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan resigned, citing personal reasons. Tung then appointed Tsang to become the Chief Secretary and invited a civil service outsider, Antony Leung, to take up the post of Financial Secretary.

As Chief Secretary, Tsang ranked second to the then Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa, advising him on matters of policy and deputising for him during his absence. He was also a member of the Tung's inner cabinet, the Executive Council, which is also the highest policy-making body in Hong Kong. He assumed the post of acting Chief Executive when Tung's resignation was approved by the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China on 12 March 2005.

Political appointee (2002–05)[link]

Tsang's identity as a civil servant ended in mid-2002, when the POAS, or ministerial system, was introduced in the territory. He carried on his duty as the Chief Secretary, but was no longer a civil servant. Under the POAS all secretaries are selected by the Chief Executive and do not have to be civil servants.

Acting Chief Executive[link]

According to ^[9] the Basic Law, if the Chief Executive resigns, the Chief Secretary will assume the duty as acting Chief Executive for a maximum of six months. At 17:30 (HKT) on 10 March 2005 in Hong Kong, Tung Chee Hwa announced his resignation due to "health problems". The resignation was endorsed by the Central People's Government on 12 March, which also confirmed Tsang as Acting Chief Executive. Tsang then assumed power as head of the Hong Kong government. As Chief Secretary he served as acting Chief Executive until 25 May 2005, following Tung Chee Hwa's resignation on 12 March 2005. He resigned as Chief Secretary on the afternoon of 25 May, after the Chief Executive Election (Amendment) (Term of Office of the Chief Executive) Bill was passed at the Legislative Council, and went on leave. Financial Secretary Henry Tang took up the post as acting Chief Executive. His resignation was accepted by the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China on 2 June 2005.

It was always clear that Beijing had already endorsed Tsang as the new Chief Executive and that he would be elected unopposed by the 800 members of the Election Committee on 16 June 2005. He was formally appointed by the Central People's Government as the Chief Executive on 21 June 2005. However, an interpretation of the Basic Law by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress made it clear that Tsang would only serve out the remaining two years of Tung Chee Hwa's term, rather than the full five years originally mooted. In 2007, he was re-elected for a full 5 year term.

On 25 May 2005 Tsang resigned as Chief Secretary for Administration because of his intention to run for the post of Chief Executive.^[10]

Mr Michael Suen, the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, became Acting Chief Secretary for Administration as soon as Tsang's resignation was accepted by the Central People's Government.

Chief Executive election[link]

Tsang's resignation as Chief Secretary was accepted by the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China on 2 June 2005. David Li Kwok-po acted as his election campaign manager. Tsang stood on a platform of "Resolute, pragmatic action".

On 15 June he handed in his nomination form which bore the signatures of 674 of the approximately 800 members of Election Committee which the Returning Officer determined that his nomination was valid.^[11] Two other would be contenders failed to gain the necessary 100 election committee members' endorsements, and their nominations were declared invalid^{[citation needed]}.

On 21 June 2005 Tsang was officially appointed Chief Executive of the HKSAR by the State Council of the Central People's Government to complete the remainder of Tung's term, which ended on 30 June 2007.

During the Chief Executive election campaign, Donald Tsang received about HK$27.33 million in campaign sponsorship, but spent only HK$4.12 million. The remaining HK$23.21 million was donated to 14 charitable organisations.^{[citation needed]}

First term[link]

Issues:

• Food safety
• Relations with pan-democrats
• Political reform
• Economic policies
• Environment

Second term[link]

• Five-year policy blueprint
• Ten major infrastructure projects
• Education reform
• Heritage Conservation
• Environmental protection
• Political Appointments System in Hong Kong
• Stimulus packages to weather financial turmoil
• Constitutional reform for selecting chief executive and forming LegCo

Tsang has said that when his second term finished he and his family would leave Hong Kong.^[12]

Tsang became embroiled in a junket controversy in 2012, towards the end of his term of office after the media reported he had accepted hospitality from tycoons for travel and lodging; there were also allegations of preferential allocation of a luxury apartment to Tsang in exchange for granting of a broadcasting licence.^[13]

See also[link]

• Politics of Hong Kong
• Alan Leong

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Donald Tsang

• Official Biography about Tsang
• BBC News: Profile: Donald Tsang

v t e Chief Executive of Hong Kong Tung (1997–2005) Tsang (2005–2012) Leungelect (2012–)

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since January 2010. Its lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. Tagged since January 2010.

Steven John Holliday (born October 26, 1956, Exeter)^[1] is the chief executive officer of National Grid plc.^[2]

Early life[link]

He is the son of Michael and Jean Holliday.^{[citation needed]} He went to Okehampton College. He studied at the University of Nottingham, and gained a BSc in mining engineering in 1978.^[3]

Career[link]

Holliday joined Exxon in 1978, where he worked until 1997.^{[citation needed]} He was operations manager of the Fawley refinery from 1988-92.^{[citation needed]} From 1997-2000 he was a board director of British Borneo Oil and Gas, which was taken over by the Italian company Eni. He joined National Grid plc in 2001, working in gas distribution.^{[citation needed]} He has been chief executive of National Grid plc since January 2007.^[4]

In 2009 his total compensation for the role of chief executive was £2.2 million, consisting of a £929,000 annual salary and a £1,277,000 bonus.^[5]

Personal life[link]

Holliday married Kate Patterson in 1996. They have three daughters, and live in west London.^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Times December 2008
• Telegraph January 2007

The Honourable Henry Tang Ying-yen 唐英年 GBM, GBS, JP
4th Chief Secretary for Administration
In office 1 July 2007 – 28 September 2011
Chief Executive	Donald Tsang
Preceded by	Rafael Hui
Succeeded by	Stephen Lam
3rd Financial Secretary
In office 5 August 2003 – 30 June 2007
Tung Chee-hwa Donald Tsang	Chief Executive
Preceded by	Antony Leung
Succeeded by	John Tsang
Chief Executive of Hong Kong
In office 25 May 2005 – 24 June 2005 (acting)
Preceded by	Donald Tsang (acting)
Succeeded by	Donald Tsang
1st Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology
In office 1 July 2002 – 3 August 2003
Tung Chee-hwa	Chief Executive
Succeeded by	John Tsang
Personal details
Born	(1952-09-06) 6 September 1952 (age 59) Hong Kong
Nationality	Hong Kong
Spouse(s)	Lisa Kuo[1]
Alma mater	University of Michigan (BA)

Henry Tang Ying-yen, GBM, GBS, JP (born 6 September 1952 in Hong Kong^[2]) was the Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong until his resignation in September 2011. He was one of the three candidates in the Hong Kong Chief Executive election, 2012, where 1200 members of the Election Committee are eligible to vote, but lost to Leung Chun-ying.

Personal and education[link]

Tang's family operated in the textile industry and came from Wuxi, Jiangsu to Hong Kong in 1949.^[3] Henry Tang himself was born in Hong Kong in 1952.^[2] Tang holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan.^[4] He is a graduate of class of 1975.^[5] He is married with four children, three daughters and a son. Tang is also widely rumoured to have an illegitimate child^[6]

Tang has extensive ties with PRC leaders. His father Tang Hsiang Chien is a former standing committee member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the advisory body to the National People's Congress.^[7]

Career[link]

Tang was named Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in 1993 and won the Young Industrialist of Hong Kong award in 1989.^[4]

Between 1995 and 2001 he served as the Chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries.^[4] He was also a Committee Member of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and a Steward of the Hong Kong Jockey Club.^[4] He was also the Chairman of the Provisional Construction Industry Co-ordination Board (PCICB) before joining the government.^[8]

Tang has been a member of the Executive Council since the transfer of sovereignty of HK in 1997.^[9] He served as a member of the Legislative Council for seven years from 1991 to 1998.^[9] He was a member of the Liberal Party, a pro-businessmen and pro-Beijing party, before joining the government.

Tang has also served extensively on various government boards and public bodies, including the Trade Development Council, Town Planning Board, University Grants Committee, and Council of the City University of Hong Kong.^[9]

Tang took up his commerce post in July 2002 as part of a line-up of new secretaries aimed at improving the government's transparency. He was promoted from Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology to Finance Secretary on 4 August 2003 replacing Antony Leung. Leung resigned on 16 July 2003 due to allegations of tax evasion in regards to his new car. Tang briefly served from 25 May to 21 June 2005 as acting Chief Executive after Tung Chee Hwa, the former Chief Executive who resigned citing health reasons.

On 25 May 2005, Donald Tsang, the Chief Secretary for Administration, resigned to stand in the 'by-election' for Chief Executive. Tang served as Acting Chief Executive of HKSAR soon after Tsang's resignation was announced.

On 23 June 2007, it was announced that Tang would succeed Rafael Hui as the new Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong effective 1 July 2007.^[9]

2012 Hong Kong Chief Executive election[link]

On 28 September 2011, in a widely trailed move, Tang resigned from his post, and then in late November announced his candidacy for Chief Executive.^[10] He is believed to be preferred by Beijing, and hence many financial heavyweights quickly showed their support for Tang's candidacy, including Former Monetary Authority chief Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, HSBC Asia-Pacific chief executive Peter Wong Tung-shun, and Father of Lan Kwai Fong, Allan Zeman. However in polls around the time of his announcement and for some time afterwards, his main opponent, CY Leung, was leading in public polls. In the final rounds, it is revealed that Tang came in second place, falling to Leung Chun-Ying.

Controversy[link]

Harbourfest case[link]

Tang was involved in the Harbour Fest controversy as Chairman of the Economic Relaunch Strategy Group responsible for pushing ahead with the plan to spend $100 million to revive the economy after SARS, and said that he should be held responsible. Tang had said that although Mike Rowse, a senior civil servant, had actually signed the contract, Rowse as such was not required to be held politically responsible.^[11] However, during a Working Group meeting on 31 October 2003 and during an independent inquiry in May 2004, Tang allegedly said Rowse had not acted improperly and that there had been no irregularity in the implementation of the event.^[12] Tang had also said that all parties had under-estimated the complexity of the event and may have been too ambitious in organising it in such a short timespan. He later withdrew the remark: just before a government inquiry opened on November 2004, Tang requested the ERWG minutes be deleted.^[12] Internal governmental disciplinary process fined Rowse for misconduct, but a High Court judge quashed the government ruling on 4 July 2008. Political commentator Frank Ching pointed to the huge credibility gap of the government. He noted that Tang's attempt to shift political responsibility from himself, as the minister responsible, to a senior civil servant, was a travesty of justice for Rowse, and went against the Accountability System.^[13]

2010 shoeing incident[link]

On 6 March 2010 Tang attended a Youth Summit in Chai Wan organised by the Home Affairs Bureau. A 31-year-old jobless man threw a shoe at Tang and it landed on the stage metres away from him. The man was dragged away by police. The man said he was unemployed after getting fired by a computer company, and the government policies were not helping him. He said he was not a "post-80s" teen, but supported the highspeed rail protest connecting HK to Guangdong.^[14] A protester said that the topics discussed in the summit are not those that any young person would be interested in.^[15]

2011 car crash comment and protest[link]

On 15 January 2011 Tang attended a Roundtable Institute and gave a speech that targeted the Hong Kong post-80s generation with some controversial comments.^[16][17] He said the young generations need to take responsibilities, and he cautioned them for slamming others because of opposing views. Then he stressed the need to compromise and simplify complicated issues. He further said young people should not close the door and act like emperors.^[18] That he doesn't want to see politics lead to a bloodshed, leading to a road of no return and end up like a fatal car crash.^[17]

On 21 January Leung Kwok-hung led a group of protesters to a public forum with a toy model car. He then smashed the car in front of Henry Tang to represent a fatal car crash.^[19] On 30 January 2011 eight youth groups including Hong Kong Federation of Students marched to New World Development, Li Ka Shing's Cheung Kong Holdings in Central and accused the government of colluding with businesses in maximising profits while squeezing the poor.^[20] The students criticised Tang and the government for policies that benefit the upper class only like no real estate tax duty, reduction of wine and profit tax. The students said the whole HK is at the mercy of real estate developers.^[20]

Extra-marital affairs[link]

On 4 October 2011, in the midst of rumours about his extra-marital affair with Shirley Yuen, his administrative assistant when he was finance secretary of Hong Kong, Henry Tang issued a statement, in which he admitted that he had made a mistake in his romantic life in the past and he deeply regretted it. He said that his wife had forgiven him. His wife said in the statement that there had been difficult times in their relationship and that he has faults, but that she also appreciated his strengths. She acknowledged him as her 'best partner'.^[21] National People's Congress Standing Committee member Rita Fan said on 7 October 2011 that she didn't know about Mr Tang's now widely publicised infidelity when she offered her support and she refused to rule herself out of standing in the following year's Chief Executive election, though she did not in fact stand.^[22]

In February 2012, several Chinese newspapers reported Henry Tang might have had a relationship with Esther Lam, the daughter of Heung Yee Kuk vice-chairman Daniel Lam Wai-keung. Emails supposedly exchanged by the two of them and a picture showing them shoulder against shoulder have been published. Tang denied the reports claiming "we are only casual acquaintances".^[23]

Questionable academic credentials[link]

Henry Tang is commonly believed to have attended Graduate School at Yale University and to have obtained a Master's degree in Sociology.^[24] These were credentials submitted to then HK governor David Wilson in 1991–1992. So far there is no evidence that he did obtain that degree.^[24]

Unauthorized building works[link]

Since 13 February 2012, three major Hong Kong presses were reporting the unauthorised building works of Tang's two adjoined residences at York Road, Kowloon Tong. On 16 February 2012 during the inspection by the officials of the Buildings Department, revealing over 2200-square-foot (11 m by 19 m) basement which was not documented in the approved floor plan, Tang admitted at a press conference that he was aware of the construction of an illegal basement at his family house and said that it was his wife's idea.^[25] The admission follows several denials, and has provoked widespread criticism "He has lost almost all his credibility, he lied every day," said Ma Ngok, a political sciences professor at the University of Hong Kong to AFP.^[26]

The scandal has prompted some of Tang's potential supporters of the 2012 Hong Kong Chief Executive election to review their position.^[27] One former supporter said that it was 'unbearable' for Tang to throw the blame onto his wife.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• Antony Leung
• Politics of Hong Kong
• Executive Council of Hong Kong

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website