21st September 2025 – (Hong Kong) Adrian Cheng, formerly the high‑profile chief executive of New World Development, has broken clean from his family’s troubled property empire. After stepping down as CEO in September last year, he has now resigned from all remaining board roles, including non‑executive posts at both New World and its main shareholder Chow Tai Fook Enterprises. With the house of Cheng still weighed down by debt, his exit has cleared the way for a sharper focus on his own ventures.
That focus has arrived in the form of ALMAD Group, a Hong Kong‑headquartered conglomerate Cheng insists will ride global economic transformation. The company is being pitched as a bet on nine fields across three broad directions: new and “transformative” industries in emerging markets, digital and virtual assets including tokenised real‑world assets, and an expanded cultural ecosystem under the K11 by AC brand. A grand reveal perhaps, but sceptics will note that little detail has been offered about funding, investment sizes or even a concrete pipeline.
The official announcement refers to ALMAD as a “comprehensive enterprise group” designed for an era of deep economic upheaval. The rhetoric is heavy on vision: investment stretching across mainland China, ASEAN and the Middle East, and a determination to propel industries from cultural tourism to healthcare and sports. The scale of ambition is striking. What remains less clear is whether the group has the resources to match its words, especially considering the opaque reference to “huge commercial potential” without quantifiable targets.
Cheng has been careful to underline that his new identity is distinct from his old. The press release introducing ALMAD avoids mentioning New World Development almost entirely, instead describing him as founder and executive chairman of ALMAD, creator of K11 by AC, and architect of the original K11 concept. It carries the tone of a relaunch, signalling no desire to be bound by the debt‑laden past of his family empire. For a man who was long tipped as the heir to New World’s fortunes, that omission is telling.
He argues, however, that this shift has been years in the making. ALMAD, Cheng insists, reflects two years of private planning aimed at capturing new economic frontiers. “We are living in an era of profound change,” he declares in the announcement, framing the effort as not simply business but “a movement” to shape the future economy. The timing is less flattering: New World itself, under his leadership between 2020 and 2024, saw debt balloon and its first full‑year loss in two decades. For some observers, his desire to distance himself may be as much about reputational repair as visionary ambition.
The sectors flagged by ALMAD are familiar from investor wish‑lists: entertainment, media, cultural tourism, healthcare, sports and commercial management. Wrapping them into a single narrative about “next‑generation needs” suggests breadth, even if it risks superficiality. Similarly, the expansion of K11 by AC — a cultural ecosystem built on lifestyle malls, art foundations and curated experiences — is cast as a bid to transform retail and cultural engagement globally. Yet this is neither new nor untested, and many will recall that K11 itself, while celebrated for design and branding, has struggled to produce the steady returns demanded of conventional property assets.
ALMAD also intends to position itself at the bleeding edge of financial innovation. The group says it will explore Web3 strategies, digital assets, tokenisation of real‑world assets and immersive blockchain applications. These phrases resonate with investors chasing the next growth wave, but they float in a sector notorious for volatility and heavy regulation. For Hong Kong, still seeking to rebuild credibility as an international finance hub after years of turmoil, such ventures might be welcome symbolically. From a business standpoint, it again raises questions: how much of this is marketing gloss, and how much true capacity exists to build sustainable platforms?
Cheng’s track record with early‑stage investments is not without merit. He has previously provided seed funding to firms including Xiaohongshu, XPeng Motors and Micro Connect, which have since gained strong market valuations or high‑profile visibility. These successes offer credibility to his claims of spotting opportunity in unlikely places. At the same time, it is one thing to co‑invest early in promising start‑ups, quite another to build and sustain a fully fledged conglomerate across nine ambitious verticals. Investors may fairly ask whether ALMAD is an incubator, a brand platform, or an investment vehicle with real depth of capital.
Conspicuously absent from the announcement are financial metrics. No mention is made of committed investment amounts, potential partners or specific project schedules. Both markets and analysts are left to take Cheng at his word that “short‑term project announcements” will follow. For a man conditioned by property development, known for its reliance on bricks‑and‑mortar illustrations of wealth, the switch to abstract concepts of digital tokens, cultural ecosystems and transformative industries marks a striking change of register. Unless tangible details emerge quickly, ALMAD risks being remembered more for branding than delivery.
In that regard the scepticism is rooted in recent history. New World Development, under Cheng’s stewardship, presided over soaring leverage that cast doubt on the sustainability of the family empire itself. Bloomberg Intelligence puts the firm’s net debt at almost equal to its equity by the end of 2024. To some, Cheng’s decision to extract himself from day‑to‑day responsibility and reinvent as a global visionary resembles not so much reinvention as escape. Whether ALMAD becomes a case study in fresh thinking or simply a stylish diversion will depend on what is delivered in the next few years.
