Jump to content

Dickson Poon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dickson Poon
潘廸生
Born (1956-06-19) 19 June 1956 (age 68)
OccupationFounder & Chairman of Dickson Concepts
Spouse(s)Marjorie Yang (div.)
(m. 1988; div. 1992)

Pearl Yu
(m. 1992)
Children5
Dickson Poon
Chinese潘廸生
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinPān Díshēng
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingpun1 dik6 saang1

Sir Dickson Poon CBE SBS (Chinese: 潘廸生; born 19 June 1956) is a Hong Kong business magnate in the luxury goods retailing sector. Poon is the executive chairman of his Hong Kong–based and listed company Dickson Concepts (DCIL), which owns companies including Harvey Nichols and S. T. Dupont.[citation needed] Through trusts, he controls 40.13% of the voting capital of DCIL as of 31 March 2008.[citation needed]

Film

[edit]

Along with Sammo Hung, Poon founded D&B Films Co., Ltd which released action and martial arts motion pictures such as the In the Line of Duty series, Hong Kong 1941, Legacy of Rage and more than 50 other titles. The company's last production, Black Cat II: Assassination of President Yeltsin ("Hei mao zhi ci sha Ye Li Qin"), was in 1992.[1]

Personal life

[edit]

Poon's first marriage was to Marjorie Yang, daughter of Hong Kong textile magnate Y. L. Yang (Yang Yuan-Loong), and chairwoman of the Esquel Group.[2] They have a daughter, Dee Poon Chu-ying (Chinese: 潘楚穎).

In 1984, Poon's company signed the then-21-year-old Miss Malaysia, Michelle Yeoh, to appear in a television ad opposite Jackie Chan. That appearance, with Poon's help, subsequently helped to launch Yeoh's motion picture career with the 1985 martial arts film Yes, Madam. Four years later, in February 1988, Yeoh suspended her movie career to marry Poon. She resumed it three-and-a-half years later when the couple separated in 1991.[3]

He married his third wife Kwai-chu "Pearl" Yu in 1992.[4] They have four children, daughters Daryl and Dana and sons Pearson (Chinese: 潘冠達) and Dexter.[5] Pearson, a Cambridge graduate, was appointed as an Executive Director of Dickson Concepts on 14 December 2018.[6]

Academic gifts

[edit]

In November 2010, Poon donated £10 million to St Hugh's College, Oxford for the construction of the Dickson Poon China Centre, which will bring together, for the first time, academics from a range of research interests related to China, provide accommodation for the college's postgraduate students, and house the Chinese Collection of the Bodleian Library.[7]

Poon's donation to St. Hugh's College was followed two years later by a £20 million donation to King's College London to fund the existing law faculty. It was the largest donation by an individual to the University in its history. In recognition of his donation, the law school at King's College London was renamed The Dickson Poon School of Law.[8]

Awards

[edit]

Dickson Poon was knighted in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to business and charity, especially higher education.[9][10]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "D&B Films Co., Ltd. [hk]". IMDB. IMDb.com. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  2. ^ "Hong Kong's Marjorie Yang". Business Week, Int'l Edition (Archives). 1998. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  3. ^ Swain, Jon (25 March 2007). "There's no business like Yeoh business". The Sunday Times (of London). Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  4. ^ "Profile Dickson Poon: A silver spoon and a silver tongue". The Independent. 6 June 1999.
  5. ^ "Dickson Poon Profile | HK Tatler". hk.asiatatler.com. Archived from the original on 2015-07-10.
  6. ^ "Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  7. ^ "St Hugh's College | University of Oxford China Centre". St-hughs.ox.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2012-07-23. Retrieved 2012-10-26.
  8. ^ "London law school receives 'generous' £20m donation". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
  9. ^ "No. 61092". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2014. p. N2.
  10. ^ 2015 New Year Honours List Archived January 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
[edit]