The amazing rags-to-riches story of Li Ka-Shing, Asia's richest man

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Li Ka Shing

REUTERS/Oli Scarff

Li Ka-Shing is worth an estimated $31.7 billion.

Asia's richest man just made yet another massive splash after the company he chairs, Hutchison Whampoa, bought the UK's second largest mobile operator, O2. It already owns Three, and the merger of the two will forge the sector's largest UK mobile firm.

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Li Ka-Shing's life story is an amazing rags-to-riches tale. He's gone from poverty in southern China to become one of the world's top plutocrats, with an estimated net worth of $31.7 billion, according to Bloomberg.

He vies with Alibaba's Jack Ma for the title of Asia's richest man, but he also says his wealth is underestimated by as much as half.