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* Trustee of the Foundation for the Co-operation and development of Macau
* Trustee of the Foundation for the Co-operation and development of Macau
* Member of the Council of the University of Macau
* Member of the Council of the University of Macau
* Special Member to the Wu Tang Clan (大學校)


===Politics===
===Politics===

Revision as of 20:14, 2 May 2007

Stanley Ho
Born (1921-11-25) November 25, 1921 (age 102)
Occupationentrepreneur

Stanley Ho, GBS (born November 25, 1921), also known as Ho Hung-sun, Stanley Ho Hung-sun (Chinese: 何鴻燊; pinyin: Hé Hóngshēn), is an entrepreneur in Hong Kong and Macau. Ho is sometimes nicknamed "The King of Gambling", reflecting the government-granted monopoly he held of the Macau gambling industry for over 35 years.

Ho is the wealthiest person in Macau, and one of the wealthiest in Asia. According to Forbes, he tied for 104th rank among the world's richest people in 2007, with an estimated net worth of $7 billion USD. He owns many properties in both Hong Kong and Macau and has taken part in many kinds of business including entertainment, tourism, shipping, real estate, banking, and air transport.

As for his businesses:

  • their income constitutes about one-third of the gross domestic product of Macau;
  • in 2003, taxes on them accounted for about 30% of the Macau government's revenue;
  • they are collectively the largest corporate employer in Macau, with more than ten thousand employees.

Apart from Hong Kong and Macau, he has also invested in Portugal, North Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Ho is also a famous industrialist and entrepreneur in Asia, and he held a number of important positions in many firms in Hong Kong and Macau. His opinions and statements on Hong Kong's estate and commercial development have considerable sway on the market.

Current positions

Business

  • Chairman of the Shun Tak Group (信德集團)
  • Director of Shun Tak Shipping Company, Limited
  • Chairman of iAsia Technology Limited (亞洲網上交易科技有限公司)
  • Fund Accountant at IBT (網上交易科)

Community

Politics

Stanley Ho once commented on the suitability of Civic Party member Alan Leong to be Chief Executive. He stated Leong was suitable since he has no political experience. Ironically, the first Chief Executive Tung Chee-Hwa did not have any political experience when he assumed the title.

Ho has also been known to make other extremely pro-Beijing statements in the past. [citation needed]

Early life

There is no doubt that Ho was high-born. He was born in Hong Kong, into the Ho Tung family, one of the most well-known, powerful and influential clans in Hong Kong at the time. His great-grandfather was Dutch-Jewish, who had several children with a woman from Guangdong. Their eldest son was Ho Tung (Sir Robert Hotung) and the next was Ho Fook (何福), Stanley Ho's grandfather. Ho Sai Kwong, one of Ho Fook's sons, had 13 children. Stanley Ho is the 9th child.

Although his family was very wealthy, he started his business on his own. When he was 13 years old, his father lost a lot of money in the stock market crash and was bankrupted. As a result, Ho's two elder brothers committed suicide and his father abandoned the family, leaving him with his two elder sisters and his mother.

Once he went to see a dentist who was a relative of Ho's. The dentist knew he had no money and said something that embarrassed him. He ran home and cried. He swore to his mother: "I must become a successful man. Let those relatives who only talk about money know, I will earn a lot of money in ten years."

Studies

Ho studied in Queen's College, Hong Kong. At the time he entered the college, it was considered one of the best secondary schools in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, his academic results were unsatisfactory. He attended Class D, an indication of his poor results. However, after his father went bankrupt, he realised that studying hard would improve his social status. Eventually, with his much-improved academic performance, he earned a scholarship to the University of Hong Kong[1]. He became the first student studying in Class D to be granted a university scholarship.

While at the University of Hong Kong, he lived in Ricci Hall and was an active hall member. In addition to his major subject, he also became fluent in English, Japanese and Portuguese. He gained knowledge in business as well, which was helpful to his later career.

Career

Macau Tower

Ho began clerical work at a Japanese-owned import-export firm in Macau. Then in 1941, his family lost its fortunes while Hong Kong was invaded by the Japanese, and Ho moved to Macau to work in a trading company. With his talents and command of four languages, he won the trust of his employers and quickly became a partner of the firm, at the age of 22.

Once, he was in charge of a trade at sea, when the ship was attacked by thieves who were armed with guns. He was holding 300 thousand dollars, the equivalent of several millions today. His partners were shot and he quickly laid down. When the thieves saw the money, they rushed towards it. Ho then took the gun, gained control of the ship, and drove it back. The incident established his reputation as a trustworthy partner, and led to great success in subsequent sea tradings. Because of his outstanding performance, he was given one million as a bonus.

In 1943, he used the one million dollars to invest in Hong Kong. He set up a kerosene company and established a construction company. At the time, the construction industry in Hong Kong was experiencing a period of rapid growth. Ho took advantage of this great opportunity, and made large profits from it.

Ho, along with his partners, including Hong Kong tycoon Henry Fok, renowned Macau gambler Yip Hon and his brother-in-law Teddy Yip, bid for Macau franchises. By bidding high and promising to promote tourism and to develop infrastructure, they won the public tender for Macau's gaming monopoly. It cost approximately $410,000 ($2,857,071 after inflation). In 1961, the company was renamed Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau, S.A.R.L. (STDM).

Under Ho and Yip's management, the Lisboa Casino hotel business blossomed, and later became a famous international casino. In 1972, it was the best known landmark in Macau and was the biggest hotel and casino in the city. At that time, STDM operated nine casinos in total.

In the same year, Ho also set up Shun Tak Holdings Ltd, which was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It owns one of the world's largest fleets of high-speed jetfoils, which ferry passengers between Hong Kong and Macau.

In 1987, Portugal agreed to return Macau to China in 1999. Ho took part in the joint advisory committee.

In 1989, STDM took the full control of the Macau Jockey Club. Ho became its chairman and chief executive officer.

In 1991, Ho led STDM to build and run the Ka-Ho Port in order to launch container operations. In addition, the oil terminal opened in 1995.

In 1995, Ho and STDM invested in the development of Macau's new $1.1-billion international airport. 14% of shares of Air Macau belonged to Ho and STDM. In 1996, the Macau World Trade Center, which STDM had invested in, opened. Ho took stakes in Macau's airline, airport, television network, golf course, roads, bridges, electricity company, horse-racing track, port and harbor.

In 1998, Ho became the first living Macau resident to have a local street named after him. He also launched Asia's first soccer and basketball lottery called SLOT.

STDM invests large amounts of money to promote tourism in Macau. One example is that of the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Center, which opened in December 2001 and became another landmark in Macau. The 338-meter tower is the world's 10th tallest. Ho's investments in Macau are diverse, and connected to various industries.

Ho also launched the DrHo888.com web site an online casino operated in partnership with Vancouver based Eyeball.com.

Gambling

Ho owns eight casinos, including Casino Lisboa, Macau's most famous casino. The casino features 107 slots and 146 table games. The property has six restaurants and a hotel with 1,000 rooms.

As casino gambling is illegal in Hong Kong, it is welcomed by tourists. Benefitting from the individual traveling policy between Hong Kong and Macau, the business of Casino Lisboa has increased rapidly, especially in the Chinese Lunar New Year. Within that period, the average daily income is HK$100 million. It is predicted that Lisboa will be required to pay HK$8 billion on betting duty.

In the 1960s, Ho owned nine casinos in the Philippines; however, Ho abandoned his Philippine business ventures due to conflict with the president of that country.

Apart from casinos, soccer, horse race and dog race gambling are the other main income sources of Macau's gambling industry. Before soccer gambling betting rules were established in Hong Kong, soccer gambling in Macau was very popular among Hong Kong residents.

For many years, the gambling industry of Macau was solely owned by Ho's STDM. At one time Ho controlled up to 70% market share of Macau's gambling business. This era of monopoly came to an end in 2000.

In February 2000, the government of Macau SAR proposed to split Macau's gambling operation into three parts. The casinos in Macau were still under STDM, but those in Coloane (路環) and Taipa (氹仔) were opened for bidding. At last, in 2002, other casino operators were able to obtain licenses for casinos in Coloane and Taipa. The arrival of the Sands Macau and other planned destination resorts such as the Wynn Macau and those along the Cotai Strip, a Las Vegas Strip-like development.

Community

Ho has also made great contributions to education. Several scholarships have been set up to award students for further studies. He established the Guangzhou Education Fund which subsidizes research in universities. Other funds have been made for the Macau-Sino-Latin Foundation and the Chinese Culture and Arts Association of Macau.

Ho still shows concern for his alma mater, the University of Hong Kong[citation needed]. He attended its 90th Anniversary ceremony, and shared stories about his university life with the public. He was the chairperson of the executive committee of the University of Hong Kong Foundation for Educational Development and Research. He gave donations to the University of Hong Kong for

  • running facilities and accommodations, e.g. Stanley Ho Sports Centre, Flora Ho Sports Centre, Ricci Hall
  • maintenance, and to Lady Ho Tung Hall, which was established by the Ho family.

Apart from the University of Hong Kong, he also obtained a honorary doctorate of social sciences from the University of Macau.

Ho is also active in the political field. He is a Standing Committee member of the 9th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Honors

In 1998, Dr Stanley Ho Avenue in Macau was named after him, which made him the first Chinese person in Macau history to receive this honor during his lifetime. In 1995, the Portuguese government honored him the Grã-Cruz da Ordem (Great Cross of the Order) Do Infante Dom Henrique, the highest honor for a civilian for his contributions to society.

In 2003, Ho was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Mr. Tung Chee Hwa, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the community, playing an important role in promoting education, sports and other community services for the youth. The GBS is awarded to persons who have offered very distinguished services to the community or who have rendered public or voluntary services of a very high degree of merit.

In March 26, 2006, one of Ho's horse called Viva Pataca, named after the currency of Macau won the 2006 Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby by 1 3/4 lengths. The horse is trained by John Moore and ridden by Christophe Soumillon.

Triads and Ho

It has been alleged that some of the burglaries and robberies that occurred in Macau casinos were related to conflicts between Ho and triad groups, when Ho was disturbed by their activities on his property.

The public incident in the Philippines is one of the most highly-publicised news events concerning Ho's connection with triads. There is, however, no evidence pointing to any relationship between Ho and triad activities.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Seng Heng Bank, Ltd., which is controlled by Ho, is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for money laundering related to the criminal enterprises of North Korea.

In 2006, Democrat and lawyer Albert Ho Chun-Yan was assaulted by thugs in a McDonald's restaurant in Central, Hong Kong. At the time, Albert Ho was following a court case for Stanley Ho's sister against Stanley Ho himself. Given that Albert Ho's predesessors in the case have also been assaulted before, there is public speculation the attack was staged by Stanley Ho. Stanley Ho also made a statement afterwards which only fueled this speculation.

Personal life

Infamous as a technical polygamist, throughout the years Ho has publicly acknowledged that he has four wives who gave birth to 17 children. Some of these children are famous in Hong Kong and Macau. Pansy Ho Chiu-king (何超瓊), director of STDM (Macao's former gambling monopoly, and still one of its biggest players), is known for her excellence in the business; she is a 50/50 partner in the MGM Macau. Josie Ho Chiu-yi (何超儀), pop singer and actress, has released a number of albums and took part in many movies.

Despite his age, he remains active as of 2004 in social activities such as charity events.

Ho likes dancing very much, especially tango, chacha, and waltz. He often performs dances to raise funds for charities on television, and sponsors many dance performances in Hong Kong and Macau, such as those of the Hong Kong Arts Festival and the Macau Arts Festival, to promote the art of dancing. Apart from sponsoring performances, he has also invited internationally renowned dancing groups, like the National Ballet of China, to perform in Hong Kong and Macau.

Ambassador Eric Hotung, who is a grandson of Sir Robert Hotung, is a second cousin of Ho.

One of Ho's sisters, Susie Ho, is the widow of one of his then partners, the late Teddy Yip.

Faye Ho, eldest granddaughter, daughter of the late Robert and Suki Ho is active in Macau nonprofit organizations. An avid supporter of children, the elderly, and animal welfare, she is Chairwomen of the Macau Children's Association, Managing Director of Macau Charity Association, Director & President of SPCA - ANIMA Macau.

Bruce Lee and Stanley Ho are cousins. Bruce Lee's mother (Grace, 何爱瑜) is the daughter of Ho Kom Tong (何甘棠), who is the brother of Ho Fook, Stanley's grandfather.

Events in 2005

Stanley Ho buys stake in Macau budget airline. Hong Kong company owned by the family of Macau casino tycoon Stanley Ho is investing up to a 30 per cent stake in Air Macau's planned US$30 million low-cost airline in a press report.

Shun Tak Holdings has signed an agreement that the territory's flag carrier Air Macau and its parent China National Aviation Co will hold a majority stake in the airline, reported The Standard newspaper.

The carrier is expected to target the lucrative routes to China as well as the Asia Pacific region. Air Macau will transfer 22 routes to the venture and hold a 51 per cent stake, said the newspaper, adding the budget airline will take over 11 Air Macau routes to China and 11 cities in the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam.

Reference

  1. ^ "Asia's Wealth Club: Who's Really Who in Business - The Top 100 Billionaires in Asia" ISBN 1857881621 - Geoff Hiscock

See also

External links

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