HONG KONG "You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out," Warren Buffett famously wrote in his letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders in February 2002, following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Berkshire chairman and investment guru was referring to how such a surprise event -- a so-called black swan -- can reveal true strength or weakness. On June 24, financial markets unsparingly exposed which Asian blue-chip stocks were most vulnerable after Britain voted the previous day to leave the EU.
Li Ka-shing, who runs telecommunications, utilities, retail and port businesses in the U.K. under his flagship conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings and ranks as the richest man in Hong Kong, was especially hard hit. Along with three other major listed arms -- Cheung Kong Property Holdings, CKI Holdings and Power Assets Holdings -- his company saw about 82 billion Hong Kong dollars ($10.5 billion) in market value wiped out in just three trading days.
