Joseph Lau, the former chairman of Chinese Estates Holdings, is the new number one on our Rich List, with over $1.5 billion in dividend payouts. The ailing property tycoon, who was convicted of bribery and money laundering in Macau in 2014 but has not returned to serve his sentence, benefited from a series of special dividends paid by Chinese Estates after asset disposals.
Chinese Estates issued three special dividends between August 2016 and May 2017 according to company filings, after selling a shopping mall and residential tower in Hong Kong, retail outlets in Shenzhen, as well as its holdings in a Chinese bank. The assets were sold to...