Adrian Cheng, founder and chairman of Almad Group.
Almad Group
Adrian Cheng, the third-generation scion of Hong Kong’s billionaire Cheng family, has launched a new firm that focuses on digital assets and “transformative industries” such as entertainment, a year after he stepped away from the clan’s property flagship.
Hong Kong-based Almad Group will explore investments in digital assets as well as real-world asset tokenization, a process that converts traditional assets, such as real estate and company shares, into digital tokens that can be traded on a blockchain, according to a statement by the company on Sunday. Almad will also invest in what it calls transformative industries, which include culture, entertainment, sports, media, healthcare, commercial management and cultural tourism, in mainland China, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
The move represents a fresh chapter for Harvard-educated Cheng, who had been seen as the heir apparent to Hong Kong’s third richest family until he stepped down as CEO of New World Development a year ago. His resignation came as the property developer went into the red for the first time in two decades after years of aggressive expansion in Hong Kong and mainland China under his leadership.
Since then, Cheng has exited from various positions within the family’s sprawling business empire, which also spans jewelry, hospitality and infrastructure. A filing with Hong Kong’s Companies Registry shows that Cheng in June stepped down from the board of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, the clan’s private investment firm, marking his complete departure from the family business.
Almad Group also consists of K11 by AC, which manages luxury shopping malls and other properties under Cheng’s brainchild K11 brand. Formerly called K11 Concepts Management, the company was formed when New World sold the K11 management arm to Cheng for HK$209 million ($27 million) amid his departure from the property company last September.
“We are living in an era of profound change in the global economy, where new frontiers are emerging at an unprecedented pace,” said Cheng, who now chairs Almad Group, in the statement. “We have been determined to build Almad Group as a movement propelling this shift…Our mission is clear: to build what the next generation needs and to shape a future economy filled with possibilities.”
Cheng has been betting on companies in tech and digital assets through his investment firm C Capital since 2017. Previously called C Ventures, its portfolio includes Chinese social media giant Xiaohongshu, fast fashion behemoth Shein, as well as Hong Kong-based logistics unicorn startup Lalamove and Prenetics, a DNA test maker which recently turned to buy bitcoin to boost its sluggish stock price amid a renewed crypto frenzy.
C Capital has also invested in a number of digital asset-related companies, including Hong Kong-based blockchain unicorn Animoca Brands, domestic crypto custody provider Hex Trust and U.S. blockchain software company Consensys.