遭遇綁架與家族爭斗，香港地產(chǎn)大亨郭炳湘的一生

HONG KONG — Walter Kwok, a Hong Kong property tycoon who was kidnapped and held for ransom in 1997 and later ousted, in a dramatic family conflict, from the business his father had founded, died on Saturday in Hong Kong. He was 68.

香港——曾于1997年被綁架和勒索贖金、后在一場戲劇性的家族沖突中被父親創(chuàng)立的公司驅(qū)逐的香港地產(chǎn)大亨郭炳湘于周六在香港去世，享年68歲。

His wife, Wendy Kwok, confirmed his death in a statement but did not specify the cause. He had been hospitalized since August after having a stroke.

他的妻子李天穎在一份聲明中證實了這一消息，但未說明去世的原因。他自8月中風后就一直住院。

Mr. Kwok was one of Hong Kong’s most prominent developers when he was targeted by a mainland gangster who had an audacious plan to kidnap the city’s richest businessmen and ransom them for tens of millions of dollars.

郭炳湘曾是香港最顯赫的地產(chǎn)開發(fā)商之一，一度成為一名大陸匪徒的目標，此人有一個大膽的計劃，要綁架這個城市最富有的商人，并索取數(shù)千萬美元的贖金。

The gangster, Cheung Tze-keung, known by the nickname Big Spender for his profligate ways in Macau casinos, kidnapped Mr. Kwok in September 1997, nearly three months after Hong Kong was returned to Chinese control.

這個綁匪名叫張子強，因為在澳門賭場一擲千金，綽號“大富豪”，在香港回歸中國控制近三個月后，他于1997年9月綁架了郭炳湘。

Mr. Kwok was held in a hut in a remote area of Hong Kong’s New Territories. The kidnappers beat him and locked him in a wooden cage after he initially refused to call his family. He was released a week later for a ransom of nearly $80 million.

郭炳湘被關押在香港新界偏遠地區(qū)的一間小屋里。他最初拒絕給家人打電話，綁架者毆打他并將他鎖在一個木籠子里。一周后，他的家人支付了近8000萬美元將他贖回。

The year before, the same gang had kidnapped Victor Li, the son of the tycoon Li Ka-shing, who was freed after a ransom of about $125 million was paid.

在之前一年，同一個犯罪團伙綁架了李嘉誠的兒子李澤鉅，在支付了大約1.25億美元的贖金之后獲釋。

Mr. Cheung, who had moved back and forth between Hong Kong and mainland China to avoid the police for years, was eventually captured in Shenzhen, a city just over the border with Hong Kong.

張子強多年來在香港與中國大陸之間來回奔波，以避開警方，最終在深圳這個與香港接壤的城市被捕。

Mr. Cheung’s 1998 trial, in the mainland city of Guangzhou, was closely followed in Hong Kong. It revealed new details of the kidnappings, which had not been reported to the police. He was convicted and executed in December 1998.

張子強1998年在大陸城市廣州接受審判，此案香港受到密切關注。它揭露了幾起未向警方報案的綁架事件的新細節(jié)。張子強于1998年12月被定罪并被處決。

Walter Kwok Ping-sheung was born in 1950, the eldest son of Kwok Tak-seng, who in 1963 founded Sun Hung Kai Properties. It became one of the city’s biggest development companies, building apartment complexes and developing what are now some of Hong Kong’s most famous commercial buildings, including its two tallest, the International Commerce Center and the International Finance Center.

郭炳湘出生于1950年，是郭得勝的長子，郭得勝于1963年創(chuàng)立新鴻基地產(chǎn)。它成為該市最大的地產(chǎn)開發(fā)公司之一，它建造公寓大樓，開發(fā)了香港迄今最著名的一些商業(yè)建筑，包括它的兩座最高的建筑：環(huán)球貿(mào)易廣場和國際金融中心。

Walter Kwok studied at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London. He and two younger brothers, Raymond and Thomas, took over Sun Hung Kai after their father’s death in 1990. Walter Kwok became chairman and chief executive.

郭炳湘曾就讀于倫敦帝國理工學院。他和兩個弟弟郭炳江和郭炳聯(lián)在1990年父親去世后接管了新鴻基。郭炳湘成為董事長兼首席執(zhí)行官。

Mr. Kwok said he had suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder after his kidnapping, and his brothers increasingly took on the company’s day-to-day operations.

郭炳湘說，他在遭綁架后患上了抑郁癥和創(chuàng)傷后應激障礙，他的兄弟們接管了公司更多的日常運作。

In 2008, the Kwok family moved to oust him as head of the company in a bitter battle that thrust them into the headlines again. His brothers asserted in court filings that Mr. Kwok had bipolar affective disorder and argued that the condition should disqualify him from running the conglomerate. They also said that Mr. Kwok’s mistress had become inappropriately involved in company business.

2008年，在一場激烈的爭斗中，郭氏家族想把他從公司領導者的位置上趕下臺，這令他們再次登上新聞。他的弟弟們在法庭文件中稱，郭炳湘患有雙相情感障礙，并認為這種情況使他無法經(jīng)營這家企業(yè)集團。他們還說，郭炳湘的情婦不恰當?shù)貐⑴c了公司業(yè)務。

Mr. Kwok responded that his brothers were upset with his efforts to improve the company’s management, including starting an examination of whether certain contractors were unduly favored.

郭炳湘回應說，對于他改善公司管理層所做的努力，包括開始檢查某些承包商是否受到不當照顧，他的弟弟們感到不滿。

The company’s board voted to remove him, and his mother took over as chairwoman. In 2014 the brothers reached a settlement to divide the family trust that controls Sun Hung Kai, which was valued at more than $33 billion.

公司董事會投票決定將他解職，由他的母親接任董事長。2014年，三兄弟達成和解協(xié)議，分割控制新鴻基價值超過330億美元的家族信托。

Mr. Kwok had recently tried to renegotiate that settlement, arguing that the properties he received had not appreciated as quickly as those of his brothers.

前不久，郭炳湘試圖重新談判這項和解協(xié)議，認為他收到的財產(chǎn)沒有像他弟弟的財產(chǎn)那樣迅速升值。

Mr. Kwok remained a nonexecutive board member until 2014. He also founded his own development company, Empire Group Holdings.

郭炳湘在2014年之前一直擔任非執(zhí)行董事會成員。他還創(chuàng)立了自己的開發(fā)公司帝國集團。

Mr. Kwok’s brothers were charged in a bribery scandal in 2012 that led to the imprisonment of Rafael Hui, who had been the second-highest official in Hong Kong’s government. The case was touched off by an anonymous letter received by Hong Kong’s anticorruption agency at the end of 2008.

郭的弟弟們于2012年因賄賂丑聞而受到指控，該丑聞導致曾任香港政府第二高官的許仕仁入獄。香港反貪機構(gòu)于2008年底收到一封匿名信，引發(fā)了此案。

Thomas Kwok was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for paying more than $1 million and providing other benefits to Mr. Hui. Raymond Kwok was acquitted.

郭炳江因向許仕仁提供超過100萬美元以及其他好處而被定罪，判處五年徒刑。郭炳聯(lián)被無罪釋放。

Walter Kwok, who was arrested but never charged in the case, sought to distance himself from the scandal, saying he had not been involved in employing Mr. Hui. The family conflict prompted speculation in Hong Kong that he had tipped off the authorities about the bribery, but such a link was never proved.

郭炳湘當時也被逮捕，但從未受到指控，他試圖與丑聞保持距離，稱他沒有參與雇用許仕仁。這起家庭沖突在香港引發(fā)了猜測，認為他曾向當局透露過賄賂行為，但這種聯(lián)系從未得到證實。

Besides his wife, Mr. Kwok is survived by his two brothers and three children.

除了他的妻子，郭炳湘在世的親人還包括兩個弟弟和三個兒女。