David Webb says emotional goodbye after 27 years

Mark O'Neill May 13, 2025 10:40

On Monday, more than 230 people packed into the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) for an emotional farewell to David Webb, the city’s most prominent activist investor, whose website has defended retail investors for 27 years.

Diagnosed with an aggressive metastic prostate cancer, Webb gave what is likely to be his final appearance at the FCC. He was given a standing ovation at the start and end of his presentation.

In November 1988, he established Webb-site.com, a non-profit platform to promote better corporate and economic governance.

“In February, I started an orderly shut-down,” he said. “The repository became available on May 1, with a back-up of the data over the years. I hope others will take over. I will die confident that I made a contribution.”

All those posing questions praised him for improving the rights of investors and the operations of the stock market.

Born in Britain in August 1965, he had by 1998 earned enough money so that he did not need to work again. This was thanks to many talents.

He gradated in 1986 in mathematics from Exeter College, Oxford. From 1981 to 1986, he wrote books and games for early home computers, especially the ZX Spectrum. He also wrote the Pac Man type game Spookyman and the 3D Vector graphics game Starion on the Spectrum.

Then he worked in London for three different investment banks. In 1991, the third of them, Barclays, sent him to Hong Kong. After three years, he went to work for a local conglomerate for four years.

“I could have gone on investing and died a rich man. That is what they would put on my grave ‘a rich man’. But I have always been an activist. In Britain, I might have become a politician.

“Since I had financial security and had accumulated skills in law and accounting, I wanted to reform the system and stop things getting worse,” he said.

In April 2003, he was appointed to the Board of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKex). In April 2001, he came a member of the Takeover and Mergers Panel of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. In April 2013, he was appointed a deputy chairman.

He has campaigned tirelessly for the interests of retail investors, for greater disclosure about listed firms and for independent directors to be truly independent.

“I am very sad to see how Hong Kong has, since the 1990s, moved away from the laissez-faire form of government that enabled it to become prosperous. A small government occupied itself with education, health care and the social safety now.

“Things have worsened in the last two decades, with the system getting closer to that of the mainland, with a planned economy. Hundreds of billions of dollars are being spent on white elephant projects close to the border, with land given to chosen companies.

“What makes Hong Kong special is that it is different to the mainland, with its own customs, taxes and many other barriers. These must stay in place,” he said.

He said that Hong Kong could balance its budget by cutting back on these expenditure on large infrastructure projects.

He called for the abolition of stamp duty and the allowing of class action, to protect the interests of investors and make the stock market more attractive to companies that want to list.

Is he optimistic of the future? “I was an associate member of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, which is under attack. Central planning will not create economic growth. We have reached the peak of authoritarianism in Hong Kong now. I hope that this will improve after me.”

He said he hoped the next generation of leadership would be wise, move forward and promote a market economy. This is what caused the miracle after 1978, allowing farmers and factories to chose what to grow and produce.

“Failure to move forward will lead to economic stagnation. I hope China and Hong Kong will be less autocratic and more democratic. Then there will be a better media here and in the mainland,” he said.

Mark O'Neill

A Hong Kong-based writer, teacher and speaker.