Macau Casino Owner Dies
- Stanley Ho, the entrepreneur who built a casino empire that dominated Macau, has died. Once the richest man in Asia, Ho died on Tuesday in Hong Kong’s Sanatorium Hospital.
- Macau gambling king Stanley Ho, who built a business empire from scratch in the former Portuguese colony and became one of Asia's richest men, died peacefully at the age of 98, his family confirmed on Tuesday. The flamboyant tycoon, who loved to dance and advised his nearest and dearest to shun gambling, headed one of the world's most lucrative gaming businesses through his flagship firm, SJM.
- Mace founder and deputy chair dies. In this role he oversaw the construction of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore and the 39-storey Venetian Cotai casino hotel in Macau.
- Stanley Ho, the flamboyant and charismatic godfather of gambling in Macau, who steered gaming in the autonomous Chinese region to eclipse Las Vegas, has died in Hong Kong aged 98.
Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho dies aged 98. Although Ho’s role as an interlocutor between the two sides of the border was rarely publicised, he was involved in the discussions about the Basic Law – Macau’s mini-constitution – before the city’s handover to China in 1999, which came two years after Hong Kong’s return.
Stanley Ho, a towering figure in Asia’s gambling industry who played a key role in Macao’s emergence as the world’s foremost casino hub, has died. He was 98.
A former World War II smuggler who rose to become the billionaire owner of the former Portuguese colony’s gambling monopoly and one of Asia’s richest men, Ho spent decades as a high-profile tycoon, investor, and philanthropist known as much for his opulent lifestyle as for his business interests. He died Tuesday at the private Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital, according to CCTV, China’s state-owned broadcaster. No cause of death has been announced.
“Although we know the day will come, it does not ease our sorrow,” his daughter Pansy Ho said.
Stanley Ho is survived by 15 of the 17 children he had with four women. He had an estimated personal fortune of $5.3 billion when he retired in 2018, according to Forbes.
Born into a wealthy family in Hong Kong in 1921 and of mixed Chinese and European ancestry, Ho studied at the then-British colony’s Queen’s College. An initially undistinguished student, his family’s declining business fortunes encouraged him to focus more on his studies and he eventually won a scholarship to the University of Hong Kong.
When Japan occupied Hong Kong during the Second World War, Ho fled to neutral Macao, where he reportedly made money by smuggling food and luxuries across the border into China. He also maintained interests in the kerosene and construction sectors.
But it was after the war ended that Ho’s fortunes really took off. In 1961, he and his business partner, Henry Fok, won the only public tender for Macao’s gambling license, effectively granting them a monopoly over the territory’s gambling interests.
Over the following decades, Ho’s company, Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macao, cultivated a clutch of glitzy casinos, hotels and resorts, including the world-famous Casino Lisboa.
With gambling mostly outlawed in Hong Kong and entirely on the Chinese mainland, big spenders from across the region flocked to Ho’s tables. His casino empire generated about half of Macao’s total tax revenue by the 1990s, spurred the city to overtake Las Vegas as the world’s premier gambling center, and earning Ho the local nickname “the King of Gambling.”
The revenues continued even after Macao returned to Beijing’s rule in 1999 and started issuing gambling licenses to other companies from 2002.
Ho’s multinational business interests included property in Portugal and Canada, and further investments in North Korea and Southeast Asia.
A colorful character with a penchant for ballroom dancing, Ho fathered 17 children by four different women, three of whom survive him. His first two marriages occurred before Hong Kong banned polygamy in 1971.
A keen patron of the arts and sports, Ho held an honorary doctorate from the University of Macao, an Order of the British Empire for services to Hong Kong, and Portugal’s highest civilian honor for services to Macao.
He was also widely known for his philanthropy, with several museums and hospitals in both Hong Kong and Macao bearing his name.
Stanley Ho: Major Milestones
1921 (Nov. 25): Stanley Ho Hung-sun is born in Hong Kong into the Ho Tung family, one of the city’s most venerable and powerful clans.
1942: During Japanese invasion, flees Hong Kong for Macao.
1943: Sets up a kerosene company, which allowed him to profit greatly from postwar construction boom in Hong Kong.
1961: Founds the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM) with partners Yip Hon, Teddy Yip, and Henry Fok. Together they bid for and win Macao’s first gambling license.
1960s: Builds global portfolio, investing in Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Canada, and the U.K.
1972: Sets up Shun Tak Holdings Ltd., which acquires numerous properties in Hong Kong and Macau. It also owns TurboJET, which operates high-speed ferry fleets and is primary provider of naval transport between the two special administrative regions.
1989: STDM acquires Macau Jockey Club, Ho becomes chairman.
1999: Opens HK$233 million ($29.7 million) casino in Pyongyang, North Korea.
2009: Undergoes brain surgery, after which he would need to use a wheelchair. During his recovery, his family feuds over his fortune, an affair which was highly publicized and ends in 2011 with a truce.
2017 (June): Steps down as chairman of Shun Tak Holdings, leaving reigns to daughter Pansy Ho.
2018 (June): Retires from SJM, with daughter Daisy Ho succeeding him.
2020 (May): Dies at the age of 98.
Contact reporter Matthew Walsh (matthewwalsh@caixin.com) and editor Joshua Dummer (joshuadummer@caixin.com)
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10 – Lorenzo Fertitta (Estimated Casino Worth: $1.2 Billion USD)
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9 – Frank Fertitta III (Estimated Casino Worth: $1.25 Billion USD)
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8 – John Paulson (Estimated Casino Worth: $1.29 Billion USD)
John Paulson is a financier who is often seen as a money magnet. When he makes money he is often backed by a team of close friends and business people who also cash in on his constant windfalls. One of those is the ownership of several casinos!
7 – Phil Ruffin (Estimated Casino Worth: $1.32 Billion USD)
If there is a pie that makes money Phil Ruffin has his finger in it. Casinos, greyhound racing tracks, oil production, convenience stores and enough real estate on his books to make his own country!
6 – Elaine Wynn (Estimated Casino Worth: $1.7 Billion USD)
Elaine Farrell Wynn is the only woman in this list and is best known as an American businesswoman who co-founded Mirage Resorts and Wynn Resorts with her former husband. That is one divorce she doesn’t regret.
5 – POTUS Donald Trump (Estimated Casino Worth: $2 Billion USD)
Macau Casino Owner Dies Yesterday
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4 – Steve Wynn (Estimated Casino Worth: $2.8 Billion USD)
It’s not just art Steve Wynn likes to collect, it is also casinos and he now has quite a few of them. Not as many as the amount of works of art he owns, but still quite a few.
3 – Stanley Ho (Estimated Casino Worth: $7 Billion USD)
This man goes under many names, but he is mostly known for being Macau’s richest billionaire who single-handedly built Macau’s gambling-based economy and saving several areas from falling into poverty.
2 – Kirk Kerkorian (Estimated Casino Worth: $11 Billion USD)
Kerkor “Kirk” Kerkorian is sadly no longer with us, but in his time this Armenian businessman was a big casino investor and owned several of them worldwide.
Macau Casino Owner Dies Today
1 – Sheldon Adelson (Estimated Casino Worth: $21.5 Billion USD)
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