HONG KONG: Former Hong Kong actress Isabella Leong
has confirmed that she has broken up with long-time boyfriend
Richard Li, son of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka Shing.
"Stepping into 2011, I will also step into a new stage of my life.
I have broken up with Richard Li.
"We had a wonderful time. We will raise our children together. Our
common goal is that they grow up healthy and happy. I hope this
statement will end the ceaseless speculation about me," said Leong
in a statement to the media on Saturday.
Leong's separation from Richard Li comes at a time when many people
believed she would soon officially become his wife, after she bore
him a son Ethan in Canada in April 2009, then a pair of twin sons
born in San Francisco last June.
However, Leong's marriage into the wealthy Li family was not to
be.
Leong's manager Lu Mi Xue has confirmed on Sunday that the
22-year-old Macau-born actress has indeed separated from Li, 44,
but denied rumours that a third party came between the pair to
cause the split.
Lu also revealed that Leong, who is currently in Canada with her
children, already has an agreement with Li regarding how their
assets will be divided and how they will share custody of their
children but declined to elaborate.
She went on to dismiss rumours that Leong was given HK$500 million
(S$81.7 million) to break up with Li, and told Hong Kong media that
Leong did not have a 'cash for children' agreement with him,
describing the pair as having truly loved each other.
The reason for their split is still unknown.
No showbiz comeback for
Leong
According to Leong's manager, the actress who had starred in films
such as "The Knot" and "Mummy: The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor"
before retiring from the entertainment industry to be with Li, has
no plans currently to make a showbiz comeback.
"Work is presently not Isabella Leong's top priority. Her children
are still young and need care," said Lu.
Leong reportedly met Li through her co-star Michelle Yeoh while
working on "Mummy: The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" in 2008.
According to business publication Forbes, Richard Li has US$1.1
billion (S$1.4 billion) in total assets and was ranked the 16th
richest man in Hong Kong in 2009.
His father, Asian tycoon Li Ka Shing, dwarfs him in terms of
wealth, with assets worth an estimated US$16.2 billion (S$20.6
billion) that same year.
-CNA/ha