Delivering the "strongest ever" semi-annual report, is the "working queen" who takes an annual salary of 38 million yuan about to get another pay rise?
Taking her 2025 salary as an example, she received approximately 38 million Hong Kong dollars. After this contract renewal, her basic remuneration will rise to 12 million Hong Kong dollars, an increase of 2 million, plus discretionary "bonuses and share awards" based on performance. When the salary review is conducted next year, Alyssa CHAN's annual salary will definitely be much higher than 38 million Hong Kong dollars, by a large margin.
Recently, two major events in Hong Kong's financial industry have been trending across social media.
The first is that Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) released its "strongest-ever" semi-annual report, with net profit exceeding 10 billion Hong Kong dollars for the first time. The other is that the leader who led HKEX to achieve its best performance, the current Chief Executive Officer Alyssa CHAN, has renewed her contract for three more years, which will last until 2030.
56-year-old Alyssa CHAN is the first female CEO of HKEX since its merger and listing in 2000. Although she is also an employee, she is known as the "Empress of the Workforce".
Taking her 2025 salary as an example, she received approximately 38 million Hong Kong dollars. After this contract renewal, her basic remuneration will rise to 12 million Hong Kong dollars, an increase of 2 million, plus discretionary "bonuses and share awards" based on performance.
This year, a large number of domestic technology enterprises have launched IPOs on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. By early August, the total amount of funds raised through Hong Kong IPOs this year has exceeded 41 billion US dollars, which is already higher than that of last year. This year will definitely set an unprecedented record.
When the salary review is conducted next year, Alyssa CHAN's annual salary will definitely be much higher than 38 million Hong Kong dollars, by a large margin.
1. Earning 10.5 billion Hong Kong dollars in half a year, HKEX delivers its strongest performance report ever
To clarify, HKEX is not only a venue for stock trading, but also a listed company itself. On March 6, 2000, it was listed as a whole after the merger of the former Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Futures Exchange and the Hong Kong Securities Clearing Company.
As a listed company, its financial performance naturally draws widespread attention.
On August 19, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited announced its performance for the first half of 2026. In the first half of this year, HKEX's revenue and other gains amounted to 16.702 billion Hong Kong dollars, up 19% compared with the same period in 2025; its net profit reached 10.568 billion Hong Kong dollars, exceeding 10 billion Hong Kong dollars for the first time, representing a year-on-year increase of 24%.
Both revenue and net profit have refreshed HKEX's semi-annual historical records. In particular, the performance in the second quarter was even stronger: revenue hit 8.499 billion Hong Kong dollars and net profit reached 5.380 billion Hong Kong dollars, both hitting all-time quarterly highs.
Thanks to this "strongest-ever" performance report, Goldman Sachs maintains a "buy" rating on HKEX with a target price of 540 Hong Kong dollars; JPMorgan Chase also gives it an "overweight" rating with a target price of 520 Hong Kong dollars. At present, HKEX's share price stays at around 420 Hong Kong dollars per share, with a market capitalization of about 530 billion Hong Kong dollars.
The question arises: why has HKEX repeatedly made history?
The answer is quite simple: it is in a great era, and all its businesses are profitable.
HKEX's core businesses include operating the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Futures Exchange, and the London Metal Exchange (LME), providing trading and settlement services for securities, derivatives, commodities and other products. The most important one is of course "operating the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong".
In the first half of 2026, the average daily turnover of HKEX reached 283 billion Hong Kong dollars, up 18% compared with the first half of 2025. Among them, trading in the second quarter was particularly active, with the average daily turnover hitting an all-time quarterly high of 289.5 billion Hong Kong dollars, up 22% compared with the second quarter of 2025, refreshing the previous record of 286.4 billion Hong Kong dollars set in the third quarter of 2025.
With the rise of AI in the past two years, a large number of technology enterprises have flocked to list in Hong Kong, making the IPO market extremely hot.
In the first half of 2026, HKEX welcomed a total of 87 new stocks to list (most of which are mainland enterprises), with total funds raised reaching 212.4 billion Hong Kong dollars, a year-on-year surge of 94%. Among them, 24 A-share companies also completed H-share listings in Hong Kong.
As more high-quality IPOs emerge, a large amount of capital has also poured into the market. In the past two years, the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect have underpinned half of HKEX's business.
In the first half of 2026, the trading volume of Stock Connect recorded strong growth, and the average daily turnover of both Shanghai/Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Hong Kong Stock Connect hit new semi-annual highs.
Specifically, the average daily turnover of Shanghai/Shenzhen Stock Connect reached 345.3 billion RMB, surging 102% compared with the first half of 2025; the average daily turnover in the second quarter even hit an all-time quarterly high of 366.1 billion RMB. The average daily turnover of Hong Kong Stock Connect in the first half of 2026 reached 123.1 billion Hong Kong dollars, up 11% compared with the first half of 2025, accounting for 22% of the total average daily turnover of the spot market.
In addition, trading in the spot and derivatives markets is active. The average daily turnover of Hong Kong stocks reached 283 billion Hong Kong dollars, up 18% year-on-year, hitting a new high for the same period.
For LME (London Metal Exchange), the average daily trading volume of metal contracts reached 844,000 lots, up 18% year-on-year, also hitting a new high for the same period.
In short, all businesses operated by HKEX are constantly breaking historical records. As an intermediary platform, HKEX collects revenue easily, making it almost impossible not to make profits.
Two years ago, HKEX was not as prosperous as it is today. Shortly after Alyssa CHAN took office, the positive trend continued to strengthen, leading to the current booming situation.
2. Last year's salary was nearly 38 million Hong Kong dollars, the "Empress of the Workforce" also holds hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars in equity
With such outstanding performance, the "employees" are naturally rewarded first.
Two days before the financial report was released, on August 17, the HKEX board approved Alyssa CHAN's contract renewal. The new term runs from March 1, 2027 to February 28, 2030, a full three years, and the reappointment has been approved by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong.
In response, HKEX Chairman Timothy TONG said:
"I am delighted to announce that the Board has today approved the reappointment of Alyssa CHAN as Chief Executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited for a three-year term starting next March. Since taking office in early 2024, she has led the team to formulate strategies, forge ahead, and committed to building a vibrant multi-asset ecosystem that connects China and the world, connects capital and opportunities, ensures the long-term success of HKEX, and consolidates Hong Kong's status as a leading international financial center."
On March 1, 2024, Alyssa CHAN officially took office as the CEO of HKEX Group. She is the 5th CEO in HKEX's history and the only woman to hold this position.
However, the market she took over was not a booming one. At that time, the Hong Kong stock market was at a multi-year low, the Hang Seng Index once fell below 17,000 points, market trading volume was sluggish, the scale of new share fundraising dropped sharply, and the pessimistic view of "Hong Kong stock market being marginalized" spread across the market. It was a typical case of taking office in a critical situation.
After taking office, Alyssa CHAN quickly launched a series of reforms:
1. Implement the all-weather trading system under severe weather conditions. Previously, the market would suspend trading when typhoons or heavy rain hit. The new policy has filled the gap in Hong Kong stock market's international infrastructure construction.
2. Lead global roadshows to the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States to promote the Hong Kong capital market, attract the return of Chinese concept stocks, and vigorously promote the listing of enterprises in AI, biomedicine and hard technology tracks.
3. Continuously deepen the interconnection of Stock Connect to attract incremental capital from the mainland to enter the market.
4. Officially put forward the long-term strategy of HKEX as a "multi-asset platform", aiming to break away from the positioning of a single stock exchange and develop businesses in bonds, commodities and derivatives.
Her reforms have delivered remarkable results, and the market has gradually recovered.
The scale of Hong Kong stock IPO fundraising rebounded sharply in 2025; in the first half of 2026, HKEX delivered its best semi-annual performance in history, and currently the fundraising amount of Hong Kong stock IPOs ranks second in the world.
Alyssa CHAN's achievements have been widely recognized. From 2021 to 2023, she was named one of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) Women Leaders of the Year for three consecutive years. In 2024, she was ranked 45th on Fortune's list of the World's Most Powerful Women in Business, and in 2025, she was selected to Fortune's list of the Most Powerful Businesswomen in China and ranked 53rd on Fortune's list of the World's 100 Most Influential Business People.
With outstanding performance, she naturally reaps huge rewards.
Before the contract renewal, Alyssa CHAN's basic annual salary was 10 million Hong Kong dollars. After the renewal, her basic annual salary rose to 12 million Hong Kong dollars, a full increase of 20%.
The basic salary is far from her total income, as she earns far more from performance bonuses. According to the financial report, her total remuneration recorded in the statement of comprehensive income in 2025 was 37.784 million Hong Kong dollars, including 10.3 million Hong Kong dollars in salary, 11.694 million Hong Kong dollars in performance-based cash awards, 1.03 million Hong Kong dollars in retirement benefits, and 336,000 Hong Kong dollars in other benefits... Hong Kong media call her the "Empress of the Workforce".
Earning nearly 38 million Hong Kong dollars a year is not the peak of Alyssa CHAN's income, not to mention the share awards.
She also holds a large number of HKEX shares. She directly holds 68,479 shares, and also has rights to 164,546 award shares. Based on the current share price, the market value of these shares is nearly 100 million Hong Kong dollars.
3. From top law student to HKEX's first female CEO, she is a top leader in both industries
Alyssa CHAN is a native Hong Kong resident. She obtained a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Hong Kong first, then went to Harvard Law School in the United States for further study and obtained a master's degree in law. She holds practicing qualifications as a lawyer in both Hong Kong and New York State, and originally wanted to become an international top lawyer.
After returning to Hong Kong in the early 1990s after completing her studies, Alyssa CHAN started her career as a lawyer and accumulated extensive connections in the legal industry.
In 2003, she joined Morgan Stanley as the Executive Director of the Legal and Compliance Division, in charge of the legal affairs team of the investment banking department in Asia (excluding Japan).
During her 4 years at Morgan Stanley, she gained in-depth understanding of the operating rules of international investment banks and the changes in the capital market, and gradually transformed from a legal professional to a compound talent with expertise in both law and finance.
In 2007, Alyssa CHAN first joined HKEX as the Head of the IPO Transaction Team of the Listing Division. Thanks to her previous experience, she performed extremely well, and directly participated in and promoted the review and launch of a large number of IPO projects on many occasions.
After working at HKEX for three years, Alyssa CHAN chose to leave in 2010 to return to the legal industry, joining the top international law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell as a partner.
She stayed at Davis Polk for the next 9 years, in charge of capital market business, providing regulatory consulting for a large number of new stocks listing in Hong Kong, and handling countless landmark IPO projects.
Due to her high reputation in the capital market, she was named the Best Deal Lawyer of 2018 by The American Lawyer, and the Best Lawyer in Asia of 2019 by IFLR1000.
By then, Alyssa CHAN had accumulated sufficient experience and connections in both the legal and financial industries. In January 2020, she returned to HKEX and took the position of Head of Listing.
In February 2023, she was promoted to Co-Chief Operating Officer, and later became the CEO of HKEX.
According to Hong Kong media reports, by early August, the total amount of funds raised through Hong Kong IPOs this year has reached 41 billion US dollars, exceeding the 39.5 billion US dollars for the whole of last year. This year will definitely set a bigger record.
The market predicts