Li Ka-shing took plastic flowers and grew an empire. He established his manufacturing company, Cheung Kong, in 1950, at the age of 22. It made him, for a time, the richest man in Asia.There are now nine individuals from China and Hong Kong ahead of Li on the Bloomberg billionaires list. Sixty-eight years later, he stepped down from a conglomerate that has helped his fortune grow to about $32 billion, according to a Bloomberg index.  His fortune, like his conglomerate, is diversified. He started buying up properties in 1958 and, according to Bloomberg, had developed one in seven private Hong Kong residences by 1979. He moved onto industries like ports, telecoms, retail, and energy, even picking up the nickname "Superman" along the way for his ever-growing tally of investing successes. Brands like the British mobile network Three grew out of his businesses. Outside of CK Hutchison, Li pursued philanthropic and investing ventures, putting billions of dollars into his eponymou