David M. Webb, a prominent Hong Kong shareholder activist known for pushing corporate transparency, died Tuesday in Hong Kong at 60, according to a statement shared on his social media.
The statement said Webb, “passed away peacefully in Hong Kong on Tuesday January 13th, 2026 from metastatic prostate cancer,” adding that “David will be missed by his family, his many friends, and his supporters.”
Webb spent decades as one of Hong Kong’s most vocal shareholder activists, advocating for greater corporate transparency and investor rights. He was described as an investment banker turned activist who became well known in Asia’s financial hub in part for persistent efforts focused on corporate governance of listed Hong Kong companies.
A free-to-access database that he ran, Webb-site.com, helped provide company statistics and data for journalists, shareholders, financial analysts and lawyers. The platform was founded in 1998 and described as a nonprofit that helped protect minority shareholders’ rights and encouraged greater corporate transparency among stakeholders.
One of Webb’s most notable actions came in 2017, when he exposed dozens of Hong Kong companies under the “Enigma Network” label and advised investors not to own the related stocks. The reporting said he uncovered ties and cross-shareholdings that were previously undisclosed across those firms, which then led to a criminal investigation.
Last year, Webb was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for work raising corporate governance standards in Hong Kong. The Associated Press said he was born in London in 1965 and was working for Barclays when he was sent to Hong Kong in the 1990s, staying in the city after that.
Webb served as an independent director of the board of Hong Kong’s stock exchange from 2003 to 2008, when he resigned and accused the bourse of poor management. The AP said Webb disclosed publicly in 2020 that he had been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer, and that he hoped to live beyond age 60; he turned 60 in August.
In recent years, Webb was also vocal about changes in Hong Kong’s political climate after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the territory in 2020, including what he called excess self-censorship among opinion writers. The AP reported that at a farewell event for him at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in May last year, Webb said his activism had been emotionally rewarding, and he also said: “However long or short my life, unfortunately, it’s shorter than I expected. I will die confident that I did my best and Hong Kong is my home.”
Kenneth Leung, a former lawmaker who debated policy with Webb on radio programs, praised him as sharp-minded and knowledgeable. Leung told The Associated Press that while Webb was a headache to some companies because of his work, he was “a person with a great sense of social responsibility,” and said he “did a lot for Hong Kong’s small investors.”