John Louis Marden

John Louis Marden, CBE, JP (1919–1999) was a British businessman and philanthropist. He was the chairman of the Wheelock Marden.

Biography

John Louis Marden in 1919 was born to George Marden, a former Imperial Maritime Customs officer in Canton and Shanghai and chairman of the Wheelock Marden, the Far East conglomerate ranging from property and retailing to insurance and aviation. He was educated in Shanghai and England and graduated from the Gresham's School and the University of Cambridge in economics and law.^[1]

After his education, Marden joined his father's firm in 1946 as a trainee on secretarial and shipping division before he was transferred to the insurance department. In 1952, he became the director of the company. He succeeded his father as the chairman of Wheelock and Marden, as known as "taipan" in 1959. As the chairman of one of the leading firms in Hong Kong, he sat on the boards of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Dairy Farm, the Cross-Harbour Tunnel and Hongkong Electric Company, among many others. He was called "the taipan among the taipans" by former acting Governor Sir David Akers-Jones.^[1] He was also an unofficial member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for a brief period of time in 1971.

In the 1970s, the four largest traditional British firms, Jardine Matheson, Swire, Hutchison as well as Wheelock Marden were undergoing rapid decline and facing the challenges from rising local Chinese entrepreneurs.^[1] Sir Douglas Clague lost control of Hutchison Whampoa in 1975 through disastrous speculation on foreign currency and stock market. Jardine was outbid by shipping magnate Sir Yue-kong Pao for the Hongkong & Kowloon Wharf & Godown Company in in 1980 which the two groups had previously shared control when the latter decided to diversify from ships into property. The Hongkong Land faced consistent threat from Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong Holdings and nearly went bust in the early 1980s.^[2]

In the early 1980s when the economy was overshadowed by the political uncertainties of Hong Kong, Marden misread world shipping trends by registering his shipping fleets overseas which led to the doldrums and mounting debts.^[3] In 1985, Marden had to surrender control of Wheelock Marden to Sir Yue-kong Pao, who defeated Malaysian Tan Sri Khoo Teck Puat in what was described at the time as a takeover battle "for the corporate soul of Hong Kong". As a result, Marden departed as Wheelock Marden chairman after 60 years of family control.^[1][4]

He married Anne Marden in 1946 and had one son and three daughters. The couple founded the Marden Foundation for the charity works in Hong Kong. For his contributions, Marden was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1976.^[1]

He died at his home in Shek O in 1999, aged 80. ^[1]

References

1. Chan, Felix (19 March 1999). "John Marden, 'taipan of taipans', dies at 80". South China Morning Post.
2. Pederson, Jay P. (2008). International Directory of Company Histories, Volume 93. Gale. pp. 266–7.
3. Lau, Chi Kuen (1997). "Hong Kong's Colonial Legacy". Chinese University Press. p. 89.
4. Goodstadt, Leo F. (2005). Uneasy Partners: The Conflict Between Public Interest and Private Profit in Hong Kong. Hong Kong University Press. p. 159.