He received his secondary education in Ying Wa College and holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree, majoring in economics and statistics, from The University of Hong Kong.

After receiving funding of HKD 1 billion from the Legislative Council, Leung was able to launch several initiatives including the "Harbour Fest".

"AmCham came up with this creative idea for a musical event,... [which] required us to grant it five years' custodial rights, I believe then financial secretary [Leung] thought it was reasonable."

Leung came under severe criticism in January 2003 when he bought a HK$790,000 (US$101,282) Lexus LS 430, just weeks before he raised the tax on new vehicles in his March budget.

[9][10][11] News of the car purchase dealt a blow to the Hong Kong government's credibility as well as to the effectiveness of the newly introduced Principal Officials Accountability System (POAS).

He also submitted his resignation in March, which Chief Executive of Hong Kong Tung Chee-hwa refused to accept at the time.

Hong Kong's Department of Justice said in July 2003, after receiving a report from the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), that it was considering whether to charge Leung over the car controversy, which came to be known as Lexusgate.

[6] On 16 July 2003 Leung resigned with immediate effect in the wake of mass protests over the government's handling of a controversial anti-subversion bill, having failed to reduce record high unemployment and revive battered consumer confidence.

[14] Leung is currently the chairman and co-founder of New Frontier Group,[15] an investment holding company with activities in healthcare,[16] education[17] and internet business.

[18] He is also actively involved in charities, serving as chairman of the board of directors of Heifer International's Hong Kong branch.