Webb-site
Webb-site.com is a Hong Kong-based financial news and information website, founded by David Webb in 1998. It provides independent analysis of Hong Kong's financial markets, companies, and government policies. The site is known for its critical stance on corporate governance issues and its advocacy for shareholder rights. https://webb-site.com
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David Webb founded Webb-site in 1998 as an important watchdog platform for corporate governance and stock market transparency in Hong Kong. Over the years, he tracked and exposed information on directors, executives, and advisors of Hong Kong-listed companies, advocating for information disclosure and minority shareholder rights. Through his sophisticated database and rigorous investigative reporting, he revealed capital operation relationships between companies such as the "Enigma Network," and maintained a long-term focus on related-party transactions, hidden loans, and share dilution issues. He refused to blindly trust markets or regulators, emphasizing that investors should do their own homework and think independently.
After being diagnosed with cancer and entering the final stage of his life, Webb announced he would orderly shut down Webb-site.com, but as a final gift to the public, he promised to release the website's complete database and self-developed data collection tools to a GitHub public repository for free use. He also emphasized that he would not authorize anyone to continue operating the website, to prevent his legacy from being misused to promote scams, misinformation, or positions he disagreed with. This decision demonstrated his consistent principles and commitment to Hong Kong's market order, allowing Webb-site's spirit to continue rather than be distorted.
In October 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported on the challenges Webb faced in finding a home for his database. His first approach was to the University of Hong Kong, where professors supported establishing an apolitical "Webb Centre for Public Transparency" to host and expand the database. Webb and other donors were prepared to fund it entirely. However, after the formal proposal was presented to senior management in September 2020, the university declined the offer. Keith Richburg, then director of the university's Journalism and Media Studies Centre, speculated the reason was they thought it "would be troublesome" — likely due to concerns about the 2020 national-security law and the political sensitivities of maintaining such transparent databases on Hong Kong and mainland business connections.
On January 13, 2026, David Webb passed away peacefully in Hong Kong from metastatic prostate cancer at the age of 60. He is survived by his wife and two children.
David Webb 所創立的財經網站 Webb-site，自 1998 年起成為香港企業治理和股市透明度的重要監察平台。他多年來追蹤並揭露香港上市公司董事、高管及顧問的資料，致力於促進資訊公開與小股東權益。他以其精密的數據庫與嚴謹的調查報導，揭示如「謎網」等企業之間的資本運作關係，並長期關注關聯交易、隱藏貸款及股權稀釋等問題。他拒絕盲目相信市場或監管機構，強調投資人應自己做功課、獨立思考。
在罹患癌症、生命進入倒數階段後，Webb 宣布將有序關閉 Webb-site.com，但作為留給公眾的最後禮物，他承諾會把網站的完整資料庫和自研數據收集工具，開放至 GitHub 公共儲存庫，供後人自由使用。他同時強調，不會授權他人延續網站的營運，避免其精神被濫用為推廣詐騙、假資訊或他所不認同的立場。這一決定展現他始終如一的原則與對香港市場秩序的承諾，也讓 Webb-site 的精神得以延續而非被異化。
2025 年 10 月，《華爾街日報》報導了 Webb 在為其數據庫尋找歸宿時所面臨的挑戰。他首先接觸的是香港大學，校內教授支持成立一個非政治性的「Webb 公共透明中心」來託管和擴展該數據庫。Webb 和其他捐助者準備全額資助該計劃。然而，在 2020 年 9 月向高層管理人員提交正式提案後，大學拒絕了這一提議。時任大學新聞及傳媒研究中心主任 Keith Richburg 推測，被拒絕的原因是校方認為此事「會帶來麻煩」——這很可能與 2020 年《國安法》的實施，以及維護這類涉及香港及內地企業關係的透明數據庫所帶來的政治敏感性有關。
2026 年 1 月 13 日，David Webb 因轉移性前列腺癌在香港安詳離世，享年 60 歲。他身後留下妻子與兩名子女。
Photo: Tommy Wang/AFP