HONG KONG — David Webb, one of Hong Kong ’s most vocal shareholder activists who advocated for greater corporate transparency and investor rights for decades, has died at 60.
Webb, an investment banker turned activist, was well-known and widely respected in the business and financial circles in the Asia financial hub — in part for his persistent push for better corporate governance of listed Hong Kong companies and the uncovering of significant corporate malpractices.
“It is with great sadness that we share that David M. Webb MBE passed away peacefully in Hong Kong on Tuesday January 13th, 2026 from metastatic prostate cancer,” a statement on his social media Tuesday said. “David will be missed by his family, his many friends, and his supporters.”
His free-to-access database, Webb-site.com, for years provided a trove of company statistics and data for journalists, shareholders, financial analysts and lawyers. Founded in 1998, the nonprofit platform helped protect the rights of many minority shareholders and pushed stakeholders in moving toward greater corporate transparency.
One of his most remarkable actions came in 2017, when he exposed dozens of companies in Hong Kong under the “En