The Four big families of Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港四大家族) are an initial group of Chinese families. Today, the Big Four families and their descendants are Fortune Global 500 companies with multinational corporations and listings from the London Stock Exchange to the New York Stock Exchange. Along with their European mostly British rivals in colonial Hong Kong, they were responsible for much of the foundations of the territory including its economy, finance, and trade, whilst the British government provided the first codified legal system which until then and in most of China today, was lacking. The four big families begin with the Chinese surname Li, Ho, Hui and Lo. Respectively the head of four families are Li Sek-peng (李石朋), Robert Ho (何東), Hui Oi-chow (許愛周) and Lo Man Kam (羅文錦). Today the two families most recognizable by regular Hong Kong citizens are the Li and Ho group descendants.
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Families
The following families and their descendants are listed below. Each indentation is at least one generation down, but not necessarily the next generation. Not all the descendants are shown. Most members of these families have reached tycoon status.