In Hong Kong's business landscape, "sons inheriting their fathers' businesses" is not only a continuation of traditional values but also seen as a symbol of family honor. Unlike western tycoons who tend to hire professional managers or set up charitable foundations to manage their businesses, Hong Kong's wealth has an almost obsessive insistence on bloodline succession. However, this traditional succession model has been facing unprecedented challenges in recent years.
Many "rich second-generation" were raised in a sheltered environment and were often eager to prove their capacities after taking 
over the family business, by trying to forge new paths beyond their parents' legacy. Their favorite investments were often commercial buildings and hotel properties, as owning these assets most directly proved their wealth and social status. However, these successors often lack respect for market risks and disregarded cost-effectiveness when investing.
Taking the often-exposed incidents in recent years as examples, there was one rich second-generation who eager to become hotel tycoons, borrowed heavily to buy hotel properties when the market was booming. His pursuit was to create a brand-new business for his family, but he ignored the changing tourism environment and the fragility of his company’s cash flow. When occupancy rates dropped and interest expenses soared, hotel property value shrank dramatically. His once billion-dollar companies quickly fell into insolvency and even faced bankruptcy.
Behind this phenomenon of squandering family’s wealth lies in a fundamental lack of financial literacy education. Many rich second-generations have been pampered since childhood, living extravagant lives with unlimited credit cards. For them, wealth seems like an inexhaustible natural resource. This mentality of "money falling from the sky" made them blindly optimistic in their decisions, lacking the resilience to cope with adversity and a pragmatic mindset of careful calculation.
To break the curse of "wealth not lasting beyond two generations," a few forward-thinking families have begun to set up family trust funds. Bringing in professional management teams to oversee business operations can prevent successors from employing highly geared investment due to poor personal decisions. However, this model has not yet become mainstream in Hong Kong. If family succession cannot break free from a simplistic "blood kinship supremacy," many once-illustrious family businesses will become dust in the wind in the rapidly changing financial landscape.
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