遭遇绑架与家族争斗，香港地产大亨郭炳湘的一生
香港——曾于1997年被绑架和勒索赎金、后在一场戏剧性的家族冲突中被父亲创立的公司驱逐的香港地产大亨郭炳湘于周六在香港去世，享年68岁。
His wife, Wendy Kwok, confirmed his death in a statement but did not specify the cause. He had been hospitalized since August after having a stroke.
他的妻子李天颖在一份声明中证实了这一消息，但未说明去世的原因。他自8月中风后就一直住院。
Mr. Kwok was one of Hong Kong’s most prominent developers when he was targeted by a mainland gangster who had an audacious plan to kidnap the city’s richest businessmen and ransom them for tens of millions of dollars.
郭炳湘曾是香港最显赫的地产开发商之一，一度成为一名大陆匪徒的目标，此人有一个大胆的计划，要绑架这个城市最富有的商人，并索取数千万美元的赎金。
The gangster, Cheung Tze-keung, known by the nickname Big Spender for his profligate ways in Macau casinos, kidnapped Mr. Kwok in September 1997, nearly three months after Hong Kong was returned to Chinese control.
这个绑匪名叫张子强，因为在澳门赌场一掷千金，绰号“大富豪”，在香港回归中国控制近三个月后，他于1997年9月绑架了郭炳湘。
Mr. Kwok was held in a hut in a remote area of Hong Kong’s New Territories. The kidnappers beat him and locked him in a wooden cage after he initially refused to call his family. He was released a week later for a ransom of nearly $80 million.
郭炳湘被关押在香港新界偏远地区的一间小屋里。他最初拒绝给家人打电话，绑架者殴打他并将他锁在一个木笼子里。一周后，他的家人支付了近8000万美元将他赎回。
The year before, the same gang had kidnapped Victor Li, the son of the tycoon Li Ka-shing, who was freed after a ransom of about $125 million was paid.
在之前一年，同一个犯罪团伙绑架了李嘉诚的儿子李泽钜，在支付了大约1.25亿美元的赎金之后获释。
Mr. Cheung, who had moved back and forth between Hong Kong and mainland China to avoid the police for years, was eventually captured in Shenzhen, a city just over the border with Hong Kong.
张子强多年来在香港与中国大陆之间来回奔波，以避开警方，最终在深圳这个与香港接壤的城市被捕。
Mr. Cheung’s 1998 trial, in the mainland city of Guangzhou, was closely followed in Hong Kong. It revealed new details of the kidnappings, which had not been reported to the police. He was convicted and executed in December 1998.
张子强1998年在大陆城市广州接受审判，此案香港受到密切关注。它揭露了几起未向警方报案的绑架事件的新细节。张子强于1998年12月被定罪并被处决。
Walter Kwok Ping-sheung was born in 1950, the eldest son of Kwok Tak-seng, who in 1963 founded Sun Hung Kai Properties. It became one of the city’s biggest development companies, building apartment complexes and developing what are now some of Hong Kong’s most famous commercial buildings, including its two tallest, the International Commerce Center and the International Finance Center.
郭炳湘出生于1950年，是郭得胜的长子，郭得胜于1963年创立新鸿基地产。它成为该市最大的地产开发公司之一，它建造公寓大楼，开发了香港迄今最著名的一些商业建筑，包括它的两座最高的建筑：环球贸易广场和国际金融中心。
Walter Kwok studied at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London. He and two younger brothers, Raymond and Thomas, took over Sun Hung Kai after their father’s death in 1990. Walter Kwok became chairman and chief executive.
郭炳湘曾就读于伦敦帝国理工学院。他和两个弟弟郭炳江和郭炳联在1990年父亲去世后接管了新鸿基。郭炳湘成为董事长兼首席执行官。
Mr. Kwok said he had suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder after his kidnapping, and his brothers increasingly took on the company’s day-to-day operations.
郭炳湘说，他在遭绑架后患上了抑郁症和创伤后应激障碍，他的兄弟们接管了公司更多的日常运作。
In 2008, the Kwok family moved to oust him as head of the company in a bitter battle that thrust them into the headlines again. His brothers asserted in court filings that Mr. Kwok had bipolar affective disorder and argued that the condition should disqualify him from running the conglomerate. They also said that Mr. Kwok’s mistress had become inappropriately involved in company business.
2008年，在一场激烈的争斗中，郭氏家族想把他从公司领导者的位置上赶下台，这令他们再次登上新闻。他的弟弟们在法庭文件中称，郭炳湘患有双相情感障碍，并认为这种情况使他无法经营这家企业集团。他们还说，郭炳湘的情妇不恰当地参与了公司业务。
Mr. Kwok responded that his brothers were upset with his efforts to improve the company’s management, including starting an examination of whether certain contractors were unduly favored.
郭炳湘回应说，对于他改善公司管理层所做的努力，包括开始检查某些承包商是否受到不当照顾，他的弟弟们感到不满。
The company’s board voted to remove him, and his mother took over as chairwoman. In 2014 the brothers reached a settlement to divide the family trust that controls Sun Hung Kai, which was valued at more than $33 billion.
公司董事会投票决定将他解职，由他的母亲接任董事长。2014年，三兄弟达成和解协议，分割控制新鸿基价值超过330亿美元的家族信托。
Mr. Kwok had recently tried to renegotiate that settlement, arguing that the properties he received had not appreciated as quickly as those of his brothers.
前不久，郭炳湘试图重新谈判这项和解协议，认为他收到的财产没有像他弟弟的财产那样迅速升值。
Mr. Kwok remained a nonexecutive board member until 2014. He also founded his own development company, Empire Group Holdings.
郭炳湘在2014年之前一直担任非执行董事会成员。他还创立了自己的开发公司帝国集团。
Mr. Kwok’s brothers were charged in a bribery scandal in 2012 that led to the imprisonment of Rafael Hui, who had been the second-highest official in Hong Kong’s government. The case was touched off by an anonymous letter received by Hong Kong’s anticorruption agency at the end of 2008.
郭的弟弟们于2012年因贿赂丑闻而受到指控，该丑闻导致曾任香港政府第二高官的许仕仁入狱。香港反贪机构于2008年底收到一封匿名信，引发了此案。
Thomas Kwok was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for paying more than $1 million and providing other benefits to Mr. Hui. Raymond Kwok was acquitted.
郭炳江因向许仕仁提供超过100万美元以及其他好处而被定罪，判处五年徒刑。郭炳联被无罪释放。
Walter Kwok, who was arrested but never charged in the case, sought to distance himself from the scandal, saying he had not been involved in employing Mr. Hui. The family conflict prompted speculation in Hong Kong that he had tipped off the authorities about the bribery, but such a link was never proved.
郭炳湘当时也被逮捕，但从未受到指控，他试图与丑闻保持距离，称他没有参与雇用许仕仁。这起家庭冲突在香港引发了猜测，认为他曾向当局透露过贿赂行为，但这种联系从未得到证实。
Besides his wife, Mr. Kwok is survived by his two brothers and three children.
除了他的妻子，郭炳湘在世的亲人还包括两个弟弟和三个儿女。
