George Ho


George Ho Cho-chi, GBS, OBE, JP (3 November 1919 – 4 June 2014) was a Hong Kong media mogul. The fifth son of the influential businessman Robert Hotung,[1] George Ho was the founder of the Commercial Radio Hong Kong and Commercial Television.[1]

George Ho was the illegitimate son of Robert Hotung, then the most influential Eurasian compradore in Hong Kong, and Kate Archer. George was bequeathed a substantial amount of money directly and indirectly.[2] His grandfather through Robert Hotung was a Jewish Dutch man Charles Maurice Bosman.[3] George Ho studied at King's College, Hong Kong[4] and the University of California, Berkeley.[5][6][7]

Instead of joining the family flagship company, George Ho founded his own business, Commercial Radio Hong Kong by obtaining a radio broadcasting licence through the connections and HK$50,000 inheritance from his father. George Ho gradually became an influential tycoon in the colony.[2] He branched out into television, founding Commercial Television in 1975. But the station closed three years later.[4]