HONG KONG (Reuters) – 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 on Tuesday at the age of 98.
FILE PHOTO: Hong Kong tycoon Stanley Ho looks out from the Macau Ferry Terminal and in the background berths his latest in a fleet of jetfoils from his Hong Kong flagship company Shun Tak Holdings Ltd, in Hong Kong, China. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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 Holdings (0880.HK), valued at about $6 billion.
Shielded from challengers by a four-decade monopoly on gambling, Ho helped transform Macau from a sleepy peninsula dotted with seedy, windowless gambling dens into the world’s biggest casino centre.
But Ho’s interests in Macau, on the coast of southeast China across the mouth of the Pearl River opposite Hong Kong, were not limited to the roulette wheels and baccarat tables.
His privately held company, Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau, or STDM, has stakes in everything from luxury hotels to helicopters and horse racing.
Ho lost his gambling monopoly in 2002 when Macau was opened up to competition, three years after the enclave returned to Chinese rule. STDM’s main asset, SJM, is facing increasing competition from the other five licensed operators in Macau including U.S. billionaire Sheldon Adelson’s Sands China (1928.HK).
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