Graham Wallace, chief executive of Cable & Wireless, is candid about his dealings with Richard Li. "He's got a rich father. That always helps," he says. "I liked him. He's got a quick mind. And when talking to him you can see he's always thinking ahead."

The quickness was epitomised by the way Li's embryonic Pacific Century CyberWorks hijacked the proposed merger between Hong Kong Telecom and SingTel. Li apparently secured up to $11bn in financing from a syndicate led by HSBC Holdings on top of more than $1bn raised recently in a share placement.

His business methods mirror those of his father, who last week created pandemonium with a share offering in an internet company called Tom.com that was 669 times oversubscribed; 300,000 would-be investors queued for application forms.

Father and son now control some 60% of Hong Kong's telecoms market, including the Hutchison-Whampoa group.