Money Machine

Chapter 1An Unexpected Question

From aboard the Star Ferry in Victoria Harbor, your view of Hong Kong Island builds, growing more dramatic as the boat makes its short trip across the water. From the Kowloon side, you can make out the bends in the Hong Kong waterfront, a mix of malls and parks, ferry landings and exhibition halls, all on flat land. But as the ferry nears its destination, the eye is drawn skyward, to the forests beyond the waterfront—actual forests of trees and fast‐rising jungle, and forests of high‐rises that wink and glitter in the shifting light, competing with one another as they reach for the sun. Depending on the time of year, the weather, and where you are in the harbor, those buildings really do seem to scrape against the clouds.

Coming into port with the Star Ferry, you land at Central Pier, where the choice lies at your feet. You will head into one forest or another—the natural or the man‐made—on an island that boasts, among other things, one of the densest populations and some of the costliest real estate anywhere on Earth.

On this particular morning in 2002, Hong Kong was sweltering. The spring fog that shrouds Victoria Peak had burned off under a blazing sun. Warm as it was outside, I knew that in those skyscrapers the offices would feel cold. Hong Kong natives have a habit of blasting their air conditioning as if to overcompensate for the heat and humidity outside.

It was Monday, April 1, and I was on my way to my company's offices, which were ...