Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-Fat to give £542 million fortune away

Telegraph Reporters
Updated
Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-fat - AP
Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-fat - AP

The actor Chow Yun-fat, star of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, is to give his entire net worth to charity.

Chow, whose fortune is valued at 5.6 billion Hong Kong dollars (£542 million), made the promise in an interview with Hong Kong film website Jayne Stars.

"The money’s not mine," he said, adding that his dream was "to be a happy and normal person".

Chow is best-known to Western audiences for his collaborations with director John Woo, including The Killer and A Better Tomorrow.

He also played Sao Feng, a Chinese pirate lord, in the third Pirates of the Caribbean film, At World's End.

Chow Yun-fat (left) and Johnny Depp (right) in a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - Credit: Peter Mountain
Chow Yun-fat (left) and Johnny Depp (right) in a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Credit: Peter Mountain

Despite his wealth, Chow has a reputation among Asian audiences for his frugal lifestyle. He commutes around Hong Kong by public transport, shops at discount stores, and frequently wears old clothing.

His wife Jasmine Tan also told Oriental Daily that Chow had used the same Nokia phone for 17 years until it recently stopped working. The couple have no children.