Kwok is a grandson of the co-founder of Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's largest property developer. He became a board member of the publicly traded company in December 2018, two months after the death of his father, Walter Kwok. He's also a director of the family holding company Empire Group Holdings.
The majority of Kwok's net worth is derived from Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's largest property developer. The publicly traded business was founded by his grandfather, Kwok Tak-seng, who died in 1990. Geoffrey and his brother Jonathan inherited the stake of their father Walter Kwok, who died in October 2018.
Kwok Tak-seng's heirs control 27% of the developer through trusts created by his widow, Kwong Siu-hing. Her net worth has been divided equally among her three sons, according to a January 2014 email statement from the company.
Kwok is credited with 14% of the company, held via an individual trust, another set up by his grandmother, and a third trust linked to his brother and cousins, according to the company's 2022/2023 annual report and a Jan. 19, 2024 filing.
The billionaire's holdings also include cash from dividends accrued by his father and the value of his cash investments is based on an analysis of these proceeds as well as insider transactions, taxes, charitable contributions and market performance.
Ivy Lam, a spokesman for Sun Hung Kai, declined to comment on the billionaire's net worth.
Grandfather Kwok Tak-seng, a grocery wholesaler from Guangdong, China, immigrated to Hong Kong after World War II. He joined Fung King Hey and Lee Shau Kee to create Sun Hung Kai Properties in 1963. The company sold shares in an initial public offering in Hong Kong in August 1972 and became one of the world's largest real estate developers by market value.
Kwok's three sons -- Walter, Thomas and Raymond -- took over the company after he died from a heart attack in 1990. Walter ran the company until 2008. He was kidnapped in 1996 by a Hong Kong gang leader nicknamed "Big Spender," who also held Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's son, Victor Li, for ransom.
A family dispute led to Walter's extended leave and, subsequently, his departure as chairman in 2008. Walter said that Thomas and Raymond had him removed from his position because they thought he was suffering from a mental illness, which he denied. Hong Kong's Standard newspaper reported Walter was forced to go on leave after a disagreement with his brothers over a female friend's growing influence in the company. He later sued his siblings for libel.
Their mother Kwong Sui-hing took over as chairman and Thomas and Raymond later became co-chairmen of Sun Hung Kai. Walter applied to the High Court in 2008 to prevent the board from removing him from his post, alleging that his brothers opposed his questioning of the way the company awarded construction contracts, and other corporate-governance issues. Walter and the family settled their dispute amicably in January 2014.
Thomas and Raymond were arrested in March 2012 by Hong Kong's anti-graft agency and were charged with bribery and misconduct four months later. According to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Thomas, Raymond and two other men conspired to provide Rafael Hui, the city's former No. 2 government official, with free use of two apartments and two unsecured loans for unspecified favors. The Kwoks have denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty in March 2013.
The company later named Adam Kwok, Thomas's son, and Edward Kwok, Raymond's son, as alternate directors. Thomas was sentenced to five years in jail in 2014.
Walter Kwok passed away in October 2018 and his shares passed to his sons via trusts, filings show. Geoffrey became a board member of Sun Hung Kai in December 2018.