Billionaire Albert Yeung Recounts Jackie Chan’s Extra-Marital Affair, Carina Lau’s Nude Photos, and Nicholas Tse’s Divorce
Albert Yeung (楊受成), the founder of Emperor Group–one of the most powerful conglomerate empires in Hong Kong and the Chinese entertainment industry–was a controversial figure who often graced tabloid magazines. In an explosive interview with Ming Pao Weekly, the 69-year-old recounted his experience in prison, surviving a kidnapping incident, and cheating on his two wives. Mr. Yeung also offered the inside scoop on the biggest celebrity scandals, such as Jackie Chan’s (成龍) extra-marital affair, Carina Lau’s (劉嘉玲) nude photos taken during her abduction, and Nicholas Tse’s (謝霆鋒) divorce with Cecilia Cheung (張栢芝).
In Forbes’ 2012 rankings of the richest people in the world, Mr. Yeung was one of the Top 40 Richest People in Hong Kong and ranked #1075 on the World’s Richest Billionaire list. Mr. Yeung lived in an iconic 10,000 square feet mansion, which often appeared in magazines. Although it was difficult to imagine Mr. Yeung’s life being different from his current billionaire status, he described his childhood as being pitiful. Outsiders perceived Mr. Yeung as being born into wealth, but he revealed that his parents carried an “empty shell.” Danger appeared to preside in Mr. Yeung’s life at an early age. “Each day, there was no sense of security as loan sharks pestered us. My mother was threatened by loan sharks who held a broken glass bottle at her.”
Cheating Is A Part Of Life
Mr. Yeung’s current wealth was largely self-made; he started his business in the retail watch industry and eventually expanded to financial services, real estate, jewelery, entertainment and films, hospitality, and publishing services. Aside from building diversified conglomerates, the richest billionaires in Hong Kong were often romantically rumored with local actresses and apparently led dangerous lives, in which kidnappers were often tempted by their incredible wealth to commit abductions and demand ransom. Mr. Yeung raced in the fast lane, surrounded by beautiful women and danger in each step of his life.
While married to his ex-wife, Mr. Yeung was a player who kept many girlfriends. Mr. Yeung recounted a hotel rendezvous with a Hong Kong actress in 1973. He refused to reveal her name since she was currently married. Mr. Yeung’s assistant alerted him that his ex-wife was about to barge into the hotel, ready to uncover his cheating habits. Mr. Yeung laughed and recounted how he left the hotel room just in time, while fabricating an elaborate alibi, pretending to be drunk and telling his wife that he was not present at the hotel. Professing to be a “genius” and although passing this incident with flying colors, Mr. Yeung’s marriage with his first wife did not last. “After divorce, I gave her 4 houses, although they were not very expensive properties.” The ex-couple have 4 children together.
Mr. Yeung told his hotel escapade to his friend, actor and director, Philip Chan (陳欣健), who found the incident to be very humorous. Mr. Yeung threatened that he would kill Mr. Chan, should he decide to spin the real-life incident into a movie. “After 3 to 5 months, this bastard truly made my escapade into a movie!” Mr. Yeung’s rendezvous was made into the movie, The Extras, in which Kenneth Tsang (曾江) portrayed Mr. Yeung’s role and Idy Chan (陳玉蓮) portrayed his ex-wife.
Although Mr. Yeung has been married to his second wife for 27 years, he admitted that he still kept girlfriends on the side. “I am a very honest person and would rather be a true petty person, rather than a fake gentleman. I always say that there is no man in this world who does not lust after fortune and women. No woman does not crave money. Currently, I still have girlfriends. Of course there is a need to be careful, but no matter how careful I am, it cannot be fake. My wife is a very smart woman.”
Advised Jackie Chan On Extra-Marital Affair
With his vast influence in the entertainment industry, Mr. Yeung was often the confidant of superstars such as Jackie Chan. In 1999, Jackie had an affair with Hong Kong actress, Elaine Ng (吳綺莉), who became pregnant with Jackie’s daughter. Mr. Yeung advised Jackie to give her vast sums of money, in order to keep the scandal out of the public eye. This was a suggestion that Jackie did not protest against initially. However, Jackie finally decided to let Elaine tell the world and vent, rather than live with the guilty fear of not knowing when the volcano would erupt. At the time, Jackie was most concerned about how his wife, Joan Lin (林鳳嬌), would react after finding out about his cheating. Sharing Mr. Yeung’s philosophy that all men cheated, Jackie described his extra-marital affair as “committing a wrong that every man in the world was guilty of.”
Although it was suggested that money may be a method to keep Elaine quiet, Mr. Yeung professed that Jackie never actually gave her the money. Nevertheless, it was rumored that Jackie was currently paying the living expenses for Elaine and their 12-year-old daughter. However, in a 2010 interview, Elaine denied that she had received any monthly payments.
Entering Prison For 9 Months
In 1981, Mr. Yeung entered prison for 9 months, after he was found guilty in obstructing justice in a personal injury case. At the time, Mr. Yeung’s friend had injured another friend, whom Mr. Yeung sought out to ask him not to press legal charges. Mr. Yeung recounted of his imprisonment, “I did not lose sleep on any night. Unexpectedly, my heart felt very much at peace. One-third of my life had already passed, there was no means of escape. If I had a choice to pick again, I would not change my decision.”
Kidnapping And Running From Death
Mr. Yeung was the victim of a well-publicized kipnapping incident. The abduction was arranged by his company’s former receptionist, whose boyfriend owed loan sharks vast sums of money. At one of his offices in the Central district, Mr. Yeung was forced at gunpoint to get inside the car, but he dared to run from the kidnappers. Gunshots were fired at him, but he ran to police officers on the street and yelled, “Kipnapping!” Mr. Yeung’s kidnapping incident headlined sensational tabloid stories, adding to his larger-than-life image with the public.
Carina Lau’s Tormented Nude Magazine Cover
In 1990, Hong Kong actress, Carina Lau was abducted by four men under a triad boss’ order due to her refusal to film a movie. Although Carina maintained that she was not violated, the men did remove her clothing and took topless photos of her. Twelve years later, Carina’s topless photos appeared on the cover of Mr. Yeung’s publication, East Week Magazine. Her face was pixelated but it was apparent that she was tormented and in great fear After Carina gathered hundreds of protesters, including many famous friends in the entertainment industry, East Week Magazine was forced to shut down in 2002 at a great financial loss to Mr. Yeung. Eventually, the magazine resumed operations in 2003.
As the owner of East Week Magazine, Mr. Yeung was often portrayed as acting mercilessly and unethically in the publication of Carina’s nude photos taken during her abduction. Mr. Yeung maintained that he was unaware of East Week Magazine’s editorial decision to publish Carina’s nude photos, as it was only a small magazine operation in his vast conglomerate empire. From a legal standpoint, Mr. Yeung stated that it was not wrong to publish Carina’s nude photos, whereby the magazine had received the photos in the mail through an anonymous source. However, he noted that from an ethical standpoint, it may not have been the correct decision.
Mr. Yeung stated that he and Carina remained friends with current contact; she was not angry about the publication of her nude photos, understanding that it was an editorial decision made by Mr. Yeung’s employees and not Mr. Yeung himself. In fact, many of Carina’s movies were distributed by Mr. Yeung’s Emperor Entertainment Group, thus it was difficult to hold grudges in a closely interconnected industry.
“I Regard Nicholas Tse As My Own Son”
Mr. Yeung’s favoritism and decision to promote an artist often resulted in superstardom, as it was the case with Joey Yung (容祖兒), Nicholas Tse (謝霆鋒), and Twins (consisting of Gillian Chung 鍾欣桐 and Charlene Choi 蔡卓妍 ). EEG possessed immense marketing muscle, exercising a “push marketing” strategy for their artists in the music and film industries. Mr. Yeung possessed a close affinity for Joey Yung, who shared the same Chinese astrological sign of the Monkey. Mr. Yeung admitted that he had a practice of allowing his trusted feng shui master to offer advice regarding artists EEG decided to promote.
Mr. Yeung and Nicholas Tse’s father, Patrick Tse (謝賢), were friends since 1967. Mr. Yeung watched Nicholas grow up and regarded him as his own son. Nicholas signed with EEG when he was only 16 years old. It was rumored that Patrick Tse owed Mr. Yeung vast sums of money, thus Nicholas had to work and repay his father’s debts before he even finished high school. While Mr. Yeung acknowledged that Patrick had worked for him, he clarified that Patrick did not owe him any financial debts.
Mr. Yeung spoke of his affinity for Nicholas, “It was not until 2011 that he (Nicholas) started thinking about other people’s feelings. In the past, he only thought about himself and acted the way he wished. If he liked something, he had his own way. Although I am the boss, I had to bend to his wishes! Other people asked what we should do about Nicholas Tse. I did not try to control him. Nicholas is like a dark horse. I care for him. I spoil him. Perhaps I owe him.”
Last year, when Nicholas was embroiled in a divorce crisis with ex-wife, Cecilia Cheung, Mr. Yeung flew to Malaysia to visit Nicholas on the film set of The Viral Factor <逆戰>. Mr. Yeung noted that Nicholas had truly matured as an individual, as his divorce decision was made calmly, taking into account the future of his two sons. Nicholas never uttered a bad word about Cecilia at the time.
Mr. Yeung possessed a deep friendship with billionaire, Li Ka Shing (李嘉誠). When former EEG artist, Isabella Leong (梁洛施) fell in love with Li Ka Shing’s son, Richard Li, she wished to pursue her romantic dreams and end her company contract. Negotiations took place for 6 months before the matter finally settled out of court. Money did not get in the way of Mr. Yeung’s friendship with Mr. Li.
As often the case for Hong Kong billionares, it was difficult to sometimes differentiate the facts from the myths surrounding Albert Yeung, which made him appear larger than life. More thrilling details about Mr. Yeung as a man and shrewd businessman, as well as his friendships with fellow Hong Kong billionaires and celebrities, will emerge in his soon-to-be released biography. From his personal anecdotes, Mr. Yeung certainly lived a colorful life, unapologetic for who he was.
Source: Ming Pao Weekly # 2263 via ihktv.com
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Jayne: Albert Yeung’s interview was immensely interesting. In contrast, Li Ka Shing appears to be much more reticent about his personal life as opposed to the flamboyant Mr. Yeung.
Interesting man.
I wonder if EEG had this article commissioned, since it conveniently glosses over Albert Yeung’s connections with the HK triads. This article paints a rosy picture of Yeung as a legitimately successful businessman with a conglomerate that spans multiple industries. I seriously doubt his wealth now is the result of “clean” business or ethical actions. It’s already well-known that he played a role in Carina Lau’s abduction, rigging HK music awards for his artists, and beatings of whomever disagrees with him (eg. Eric Tsang). Seriously a despicable man.
i always i knew he’s a sleazy old perverted man.
I guess most rich people don’t usually have a simple background. Leading a “Simple life” will not make a person rich.
If they are simple, they can’t become rich.
You can’t have a simple life if you want to be rich and famous….
hes the idol for every man. He’s got power (triads), money and lots of women.
If a man has tons of money, he usually has a lot of beautiful women around. There is a Chinese saying: “Which cat does not eat fish?”
By the same token, which woman does not like diamonds?
I prefer money over diamond 😛 It’s just a rock (although an expensive one)
Diamond means money. You cannot buy big and beautiful diamonds if you don’t have tons of money.
I know that. I just meant if someone were to give me $$$ or diamond, I want $$$. If I have enough $$$ to buy a diamond, I still won’t buy it, because to me it’s useless. If someone were to give me a diamond ring as a gift, I won’t be happy bc the only thing that’s going to happen is the ring being kept in a box and never see the light of day, thus it’s useless.
And the $$$ spent on it was wasted. (Im just taking your statement literally, as it is)
Sell the diamond ring and get cash if you don’t think diamond is just a precious stone. You will be so happy that you got a diamond ring then.
I don’t think you can sell it for the price you’ve paid though
Sandcherry,
Although women may crave diamonds, not everyone will act upon the desire to possess it. Maybe she will buy a fake one or be happy looking at beauty/ material stuff rather than possess it. Ownership requires a certain cost, which may be be monetary or non monetary.
The same can be said that all men may look and have desire, but not everyone will act on it.
It depends on the cost of ownership and having something. People are rational beings. It depends on what is at stake and whether self gratification is really that important.
Jane:
I hope your philosophy will apply to both men and women. You will need very good and strong self-control to do it unfortunately.
Sandcherry,
People are rational. Most decisions may be economic in nature anyway. We decide on the priorities with the limited resources we have. Sometimes the cost to acquire or experience is too much risk and has consequences. It is not just about having money to satisfy our wants.
Wants are limitless anyway. I’m speaking from the perspective of a person with limited resources and I value my personal safety.
For Mr. Yeung who seems to have unlimited resources his decisions are not bound in a way that a normal person is.
Jayne,
That is a fantastic analogy for how people make decisions in their lives. I agree with your general philosophy, that everything has a cost.
Do I value $2,000 in the bank more, or a diamond ring more?
Do I value my current relationship with all its ups and downs more, or a fling with the hot pool boy?
🙂
It hardly seems fair that rich people get to play the game with ‘unlimited’ resources, but I suppose that the universe somehow balances everything out in the end.
I agree with Jayne. For example, If you/I/ or anyone were ask to sell out our family in order to gain “diamond” would they do it? That’s up to each person, not everyone will do the same thing.
Mr. Yeung’ s life is so dramatic. Now we know where TVB scriptwriters may have gotten inspiration for some of their story arcs.
If only we had more Bill Gates and less Albert Yeungs…
More like George Clooney.
We do need more Bill Gates and less Albert. I can’t stand his narcissistic self…it almost made me vomit.
I TOTALLY AGREE.
I can’t stand his excuses of “All Men/Women Behaving like…blah blah”. That is not men, REAL men keep promises.
He is kind of person who has gone through a lot and wanted to enjoy his life but don’t give me a crap lesson on how men or women are like. He doesn’t know a first thing about that.
Even Mr. Arnold didn’t resort to that kind of rhetoric. LAME.
It’s interesting that Albert Yeungs aren’t even remotely shameful but boast about their behavior. CREEPY OLD MAN indeed.
Albert is the type who doesn’t really “appreicate” women and he views women as part of the sex object where money can buy them over.. Sadly there are many of the women nowadays where money can buy their bodies.
I bet Carina maintains her relationship with Albert is because she doesn’t want to offend Albert since he’s quite a triad boss himself.
Precisely, dirty old man !
why does he seem proud of the way he play with women
What a cocky old man!
“However, Jackie finally decided to let Elaine tell the world and vent, rather than live with the guilty fear of not knowing when the volcano would erupt. “
I listen to Elaine’s interview recently. She said the reason why she revealed the dad’s identity was because she didn’t want people to keep on guessing and guessing who’s the father. She wanted to get it over with.
In the interview, she seems very reluctant to talk about Jackie. Jackie’s name was never mentioned in the interview. At most, the host only said ‘he’.
She moved to Shanghai because she wanted a better life for her daughter. She didn’t want her to be hounded by paparazzi. She work as an interior designer when in Shanghai. She said she came back now because HK is her home and she wants her daughter to get to know her home.
I think Elaine has grown to be mature woman since the scandal. She admit what she did was wrong because Jackie was a married man, but, she didn’t regret having the child.
Maybe part of the settlement agreement is not to talk about Jackie. I will not believe he did not pay her one lump sum at first. The whole mature woman thing, let me just say it is a PR act. She loves her daughter, no doubt but I don’t think she ever thought what she did was wrong. She was a grown lady; she did what she did and she bears part of the responsibility.
Anyway this old man, very interesting life. For someone so controversial and scary sounding, he looks rather benign.
I don’t believe it either if Elaine never got any money settlement from Jackie Chan. Elaine Ng is not a qualified interior designer, who would hire and give her good remuneration? She seemed to be able to afford to live a very nice and luxurious life in Shanghai and she was not working full-time. Her daughter went to some expensive international school in Shanghai and it would cost her a lot of money. Jackie Chan must have done something to “mend” his fault.
Elaine said in an interview she doesn’t receive any alimony/monthly payments from Jackie, though that’s hard to believe since she sends her daughter to private school and lives in a pretty decent apartment.
Always thought Jackie was despicable, not for having an affair, but for not being a part of his daughter’s life.
” I don’t think she ever thought what she did was wrong’
Why did you say so? People grow up. She might be young back then, and now, as she has grow older, think what she did was wrong.
Why you said ‘ever’?
Because I don’t think she ever regretted her actions. It was a calculated move, foolish but she was a grown woman. She wasn’t some young girl. I feel all those talks about regret etc is just PR work. How many actually regrets something? Very few.
I almost landed a job working for Mr. Yeung with an administrative job at Emperor Motion Pictures. They offered me a place near their Wanchai offices but the monthly rent was like half their proposed salary. Bearing this in mind, I’d have to get a second job to maintain my life. They even wanted me to go back to Toronto, pack up my stuff and immediately fly back to Hong Kong to start working for them. After some thinking, I turned down their offer.
It was still cool that they let me translate DVD special features for their movies, though. Fun while it lasted.
i wonder who’s that local hk actress that slept with Albert?…I pressumed she could be Ada? Sonija? Michelle? or anyone?
The hotel incident happened in 70’s
Really? That happened in the 70s?? That was so long ago then… How time just flies.
I think it was someone else with the name “Lau”, not AY.
I don’t think Sonija was one of them.
Lau who? mmmm very hard to guess lol. Any tip?
A super rich and successful business man in HK.
agree could be C Lau!
Makes you wonder how many young starlets/singers this man slept with. I won’t be surprise if the list included twins. Sad!
It could be true. That is the price that a new starlet or singer has to pay for in order to be popular and successful.
But he seems to be flaunting it though.
Funn,
I think a lot of men like to brag the number of women they slept with. They like to tell their guy friends.
Since Mr. Yeung is releasing a biography, obviously he wants a legacy to be left behind. He is a power player in Asia, with growing influence in China. A man such as Mr. Yeung makes his own rules and those interested in benefiting financially follow his rules.
The only interesting thing about this man is that he so drenched in sin that it becomes so oblivious and humorous to him. He says all men cheat and all women crave money… he is very wrong. Obviously he has not encountered the millions of men or women of God who live their lives faithfully for their spouse and not for money and impurity as he would think. He lives in some kind of bubble he created with his own ignorant ideologies. Sadly, he does not know how much he needs Jesus (in fact we all need Him). Please pray for this poor man.
Is he involved in Carina’s kidnap?
There was a rumor that he was the one that started it..I wonder eh
Hello, Please see link about Elaine.
http://entertainment.xin.msn.com/en/celebrity/buzz/asia/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4519787
Mel,
Thank you for the link. I edited my article to include Elaine’s claim that she never received money from Jackie Chan. The original article made it appear as if she did.
In addition, Albert’s hotel affair took place in 1973, a point which I wanted to clarify to prevent some actresses to be needlessly rumored with the incident.
Indeed he’s super rich on the outside but deeply empty on the inside. How could you think it’s funny to be almost caught cheated on your wife? How could you think cheating and hurting someone’s feeling is okay? Clearly he lost his sense of reality. There is no moral in this guy’s mind because he got money and he is so proud that he doesn’t even care to share his nasty life style. There is no class seriously. All I could say is money and fam could take your soul away and it’s pretty sad.
He’s the type of person who’s interesting to read about, not so interesting to live with.
There’s a speculated list of actresses that maybe be that woman who had an affair with Albert Yeung. This happened in the 70s so this actress is at least middle aged. Who do you think it is? Hmmm
– Liza Wang
– Gigi Wong
– Louise Lee
– Angie Chiu
maybe angie chiu? since she’s the prettiest in the list.
I don’t think it’s Angie. She got married in 1975 when she was only 21. But then again, who really knows?? What year did this happen?? Just because Angie is the prettiest doesn’t mean that it was her. There were other 70s actresses around too..
Sure he could get many women he wants, but how many of them really loved and care about him compared to the number that constantly wishes him ill-will?
Sure he could get many women he wants, but how many of them really loved and care about him compared to the number that constantly wishes him ill-will?
very sad old man. He will grew old and lonely. He is like “hugh hefner” except i don;t understand if he like to keep girlfriends, why he even bother to get married. Silly old man. Wealth didn’t give you joy, after a while it is just a pseudo happiness. Not saying money is important in life, but it is only up to certain extent. It is hard for powerful and rich men not to have a affair tho, they don;t need to go look for women, women will throw themselves left and right.
ita
You are absolutely right, especially for a man who is so rich and powerful in the entertainment industry. It is just too hard for him not to have an affair. He doesn’t need to look for women, women will throw themselves left and right.
There are so many young and pretty girls who want to be actresses or singers so that they will make loads of money and become popular.
All he has the girls are hookers ! not decent girls, Lol so what’s the point !
I guess he is a good example of how money cannot buy everything. You can be rich and famous but still be sad and lonely. Very sad indeed… I think many would rather be loved by others and loving others rather than be rich and famous.
I hope he is at least loved by current his wife and children.
Well if he has had that many affairs, I wonder how his wife would feel about him??? Maybe she does really love him so she puts up with it?? We don’t really know…
@HTS: life isn’t perfect. Richies complain tat they are lonely in the top of a treasure and a lot of eager eyes around it. Some after tat go away and say:” I’d rather poor than rich with sadness”. But deep inside they still wanna be that rich. The happiness of richies might be fake but fake is better than none. When you are poor you still can be ponely and sad, if not higher chance to be so. So having something on pocket is still better.
In the end of the day, still need at least enough money to have a comfortable life, then saying about sad and bored.
I have to say that I kinda agree with you Fox-chan.
Most people would prefer more money than less and it’s not like giving away money in exchange for love. Both categories have equal probability to find “true” love.
However it’s prolly easier for the poor guys to find unconditional love. While the wealthy ones can easier find “love” but have to constantly worry about the girls real motives, hehe.
Then ofcourse you have some that don’t give a damn about the love and only care for the intimacy, LOL.
There are many types of love and you can’t define what is true love. Love can exist in many forms. As long as someone feel satisfied with a relationship, can be considered it as love.
Because he is asian. Marriage is still more importance to asians than westerns. He can be I love women type but overall, he will be respected more if he is a playboy with happy family.
Or probably to hv child to bear his surname…
And this creepy old man serves as a rich man icon in HongKong people strive after?!!!
shame, shame, shame.
No wonder EEG HK movies suck so much.
At least, he dares to admit his a playboy having many girls.