Adrian Cheng's Successor Quits After Two Months

Hopes are riding on Huang to revive NWD

After scion Adrian Cheng Chi-kong's embarrassing exit as CEO of New World Development in late September, his successor has quit after two months on the job.

Eric Ma Siu-cheung who was formerly Hong Kong development minister resigned on Friday to "pursue his other personal commitments" and was promptly replaced with Echo Huang Shaomei on a three-year contract earning HK$984,880 (US$126,540) per month including a discretionary bonus and other benefits.

Ma quit after two months as CEO

"Having reviewed the development direction of the group, I understand that timely phased changes need to be made, and the role of the CEO also [needs] to be adjusted," chairman Henry Cheng Kar-shun said in a statement. "I'm very pleased to have found a more suitable candidate."

Will Huang be able to turn around New World's fortunes after Adrian plunged the company to have HK$19.7 billion in losses, the worst performance since the company's inception in 1970? And he was making HK$1.51 million per month...

Huang will have the difficult task of continuing to off-load assets to lighten the company's debt load, and then figure out a way to help New World generate more revenues in the property sector, probably from the mainland.

She has worked for New World China since 2015, and became the CEO just as the pandemic hit in February 2020, leading many major commercial projects. Huang is also a member of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference and its standing committee.

Cheng was booted out in September

Good luck to Huang as she's got a tall order ahead of her. It's always the women who have to clean up messes that men make...