No Stanford degree, says Li

Richard Li left Stanford before completing his degree

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Junior Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li said Thursday he did not graduate from Stanford University, as claimed in some press materials issued by his company.

Li, the second son of Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing, was educated in the U.S. and attended Stanford from 1984 to 1987.

His flagship telecommunications and Internet company Pacific Century CyberWorks in the past has issued press material saying Li graduated in computer engineering from Stanford.

But in an embarrassing turnaround Thursday, PCCW issued a statement saying Li, 34, left the prestigious Californian university before completing his degree.

"In some isolated instances, company public relations materials have been produced that inaccurately reported Mr Li had graduated from the university," PCCW said.

"Mr Li has instructed the company to act immediately to correct any inaccuracies in these materials and on its public web site."

Aggressive telecommunications entrepreneur

Li, who made his first mark in the corporate world in the early 1990s when he developed Star TV and then sold it to Rupert Murdoch's The News Corporation, is one of Asia's most aggressive telecommunications entrepreneurs.

He completed Asia's biggest takeover last year with the $28 billion acquisition of Cable & Wireless HKT, and then entered into a series of crucial joint ventures with Australia's Telstra that allowed him to withstand the savage downturn in telco valuations.

These joint ventures include the creation of a pan-Asian mobile phone company, an Internet backbone company and data services.

PCCW's stock peaked at HK$28.50 in February 2000 at the height of the C&W HKT takeover, but have since collapsed to HK$3.65.

Li's father Li Ka-shing, who controls property developer Cheung Kong (Holdings) and the diversified conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, is one of the richest billionaires in Asia and is known to his business disciples as "Superman".

Pacific Century Cyberworks

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.