Milton Wong (born February 12, 1939 - December 31, 2011) was a Canadian businessman, financier, and philanthropist. Wong became one of Canada's most prolific money managers and was the Chairman of

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

. Many of his peers consider him one of the most innovative and tenacious financiers of his generation. Combined with his business acumen, Milton mentored and enabled an entire community of businessmen and investors.

Early life

Milton was born to Chinese immigrant parents Wong Kung Lai and Wong Chu Man. He was the second youngest of a family with 4 daughters and five sons. His father started a shop which was named Modernize Tailors in 1913. He was raised in Vancouver's Chinatown. After graduating from high school at Vancouver Technical Secondary, he went on to study economics and political science at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

Career

Wong's foray in finance started after graduating from University in 1963 and together with co-founder Doug Knight, Milton started his financial management company, M.K. Wong and associates. He later sold this firm to HSBC and became the head of HSBC Asset Manager (Canada) Ltd where took on managing billions of dollars within global assets. In addition to being a financier, he was an active venture capitalist and invested in numerous start-ups which include Nurse Next Door (a home care company) and Perceptronix Medical Inc. (a company that specializes in early cancer detection testing). He was a significant shareholder and director in a local medical imaging technology company named ALI Technologies Ltd, which was acquired by McKesson Corp for $530 million US on May 3, 2002. After the acquisition closed, ALI Technologies was renamed to McKesson Medical Imaging and maintains a significant R&D presence in

Richmond, British Columbia Richmond is a coastal city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. It occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough), between the two estuarine distributaries of the Fraser River. Encompassing the a ...

. In 1986, Milton collaborated with Murray Leith Sr and Michael Ryan to fund and establish the Portfolio Management Foundation program at UBC's Sauder School of Business. This program is now home to the largest student run investment portfolio in Canada (valued at over 9 million CAD) and has many notable alumni and mentors. Its influence on Vancouver's investment community has been significant. He was also a friend of former B.C. premier

Mike Harcourt Michael Franklin Harcourt, OC (born January 6, 1943) served as the 30th premier of British Columbia from 1991 to 1996, and before that as the 34th mayor of Vancouver, BC's largest city, from 1980 to 1986. Early life and education Harcourt was ...

and a driving force behind Vancouver's Science World and a broker of British Columbia's first modern-day land claims agreement. Wong had Christian roots.

Boards and memberships

In addition to being active in the world of Canadian finance, he has been on the boards of a myriad of organizations. *

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located ...

Chancellor *BC Cancer Foundation Co-Chair *co-founder of the International Dragon Boat Festival *

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its ...

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

Canadian Red Cross The Canadian Red Cross Society ()David Suzuki Foundation The David Suzuki Foundation is a science-based non-profit environmental organization headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with offices in Montreal and Toronto. It was established as a federally registered Canadian charity on Jan ...

Vancouver General Hospital Vancouver General Hospital (locally known as VGH, or Vancouver General) is a medical facility located in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the largest facility in the Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre (VHHSC) group of medical facilit ...

*Founder of the Laurier Institute *

Rio Tinto Alcan Rio Tinto Alcan is a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, based in Montreal. It was created on 15 November 2007 as the result of the merger between Rio Tinto's Canadian subsidiary and Canadian company Alcan. It is the global leader of aluminium mining and p ...

*Genome British Columbia

Death and legacy

He died on December 31, 2011, at the age of 72 from complications of pancreatic cancer. He won the Freedom of the City Award of Vancouver for his outstanding contributions to the city. He has been honoured with numerous awards such as the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the c ...

and the

Order of British Columbia The Order of British Columbia (french: Ordre de la Colombie-Britannique) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Prem ...

and has been commended by numerous Vancouver politicians such as Gregor Robertson and B.C. NDP Leader

Adrian Dix Adrian Dix (born April 20, 1964) is a Canadian politician serving as the current Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Vancouver-Kingsway in British Columbia. In addition to serving as the current Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) f ...

for his business acumen, financial impact, civic leadership, and contributions to Canada. In 2013 the Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Society established the Milton K Wong Legacy Project to honour his memory. Two years prior to his death, a theatre was named in his and his wife's honour, Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, Milton 1939 births 2011 deaths Businesspeople from Vancouver Canadian Anglicans Canadian chief executives Canadian financiers Canadian investors Canadian money managers Canadian people of Chinese descent Canadian philanthropists Deaths from pancreatic cancer HSBC people Members of the Order of British Columbia Members of the Order of Canada Simon Fraser University people 20th-century philanthropists