Markus Shaw was almost born in Hong Kong, arriving in a London hospital in September 1959 and in Hong Kong six weeks later. At the age of 13 he was sent to England for his education, which he completed with a degree in History at Christ's College, Cambridge. While at University he played tennis for his College, was a top-seeded backgammon player and became President of the Cambridge University Chinese Society which, apart from the occasional cultural activity, focussed mainly on gastronomy.

After attending Law School, he joined the City law firm Linklaters. Following six years as a corporate lawyer in London, Singapore and Hong Kong, he joined the family business in 1992. He has wide experience in portfolio management and the investment management world, and has had active management involvement in many portfolio companies, in areas as diverse as satellite television, property agency, real estate development, film production, restaurants and luxury brand retailing.

Committed to nature conservation, he has been Chairman of the Worldwide Fund for Nature, Hong Kong, since 2000 and has been a member of WWF's International Board since 2005. He is also a member of the Hong Kong Government's Advisory Council on the Environment. He is an outspoken advocate of conservation, a regular newspaper columnist and active speaker on the subject at many fora.

Apart from conservation, Mr. Shaw is engaged in the area of urban planning, particularly as pertains to quality of life and sustainable development. Together with Christine Loh, Peter H.Y. Wong and Paul Zimmerman, he founded "Designing Hong Kong", a non-profit organisation to promote good urban planning in Hong Kong.

Mr. Shaw is a Roman Catholic and is actively involved in his church community. His philanthropic activities include being a Governor and Executive Committee Member of the Keswick Foundation, which assists under-funded services and/or pilot projects related to human welfare in Hong Kong and Mainland China. He is also an Honorary Adviser to the Hong Kong Union for Young Leaders.

Married since 1984 and with three teenage children, all of whom grew up in Hong Kong, he maintains a keen interest in literature, history, music, photography and the great outdoors. Apart from rare games of tennis, some hiking and occasional forays onto the dancefloor, he subscribes to the deeply unfashionable and medically incorrect philosophy that "Exercise is bad for you".