Background
Stanley Ho was born on November 25, 1921. Ho Fook, Stanley Ho's grandfather, was the brother of Robert Hotung and the son of a Jewish Dutch man Charles Maurice Bosman. His father was Ho Sai Kwong. Ho is the ninth of thirteen children.
何鴻燊
Stanley Ho was born on November 25, 1921. Ho Fook, Stanley Ho's grandfather, was the brother of Robert Hotung and the son of a Jewish Dutch man Charles Maurice Bosman. His father was Ho Sai Kwong. Ho is the ninth of thirteen children.
Ho studied at Queen's College, Hong Kong, at which he attended Class D - the lowest class level in the then Hong Kong Class System - owing to unsatisfactory academic results. After realizing that studying assiduously was the only way to improve his social status, his hard work paid off and earned him a scholarship to the University of Hong Kong. He became the first student from Class D to be granted a university scholarship. His university studies were cut short by the outbreak of World War II. In 1942, he fled from the Japanese and settled in Macau.
Ho left for Macau as a refugee after Hong Kong surrendered to Japan during the Second World War; he worked in a trading firm for some 16 hours a day and accumulated some savings. After marrying into a wealthy Macanese family, Ho went back to Hong Kong and used his savings to set up a construction firm. The firm profited tremendously in the post-Second World War construction boom in Hong Kong. In 1962 Ho successfully bid for the franchise for the gaming monopoly with three other businessmen and STDM was founded. Ho’s casino business targeted the mass market and offered no-frills gambling; in addition, it subcontracted VIP rooms to serious gamblers. This strategy provided a lucrative stream of income before the mass market gambling business took off in the 1980s. STDM was the only casino operator in Macau before its license expired in 2002; it was also the largest employer in Macau, contributing some 60 percent of total tax revenue to the Macau government in 1998. The new Macau government (returned to China in 1999) issued new licenses, which allowed two Las Vegas operators to invest in Macau. Macau has become the largest global international gambling attraction, with Las Vegas-style entertainment, such as cabarets, and five-star hotels. To meet the new competition, Ho expanded his target market and invested in the upmarket Grand Lisboa casino and other casino projects. Grand Lisboa was opened in February 2007 during the Chinese New Year holiday, and attracted some 500 000 visitors in ten days.
Ho set up Shun Tak Holdings in 1972, which was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange the following year. Shun Tak is a diversified group which is involved in transportation (for example, the only high-speed jetfoils between Hong Kong and Macau), property, hospitality, and investment. Shun Tak is a leading business group in Hong Kong, with a turnover of $HK2508 million in 2006.
Over his long business career, Ho has made a great contribution to Macau and Hong Kong. He was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong in 2003. In addition, he was awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Hong Kong and the University of Macau. He is also a standing committee member of the 9th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Standing committee member 9th National Committee Chinese People's Polit.l Consultative Conference, 1998—2003. Member standing committee 1st Hong Kong Sons of the American Revolution Governor, 1996. Vice-chairman Macao Sons of the American Revolution Preparatory Committee, 1998.
Honorary lifetime chairman Foundation for Education Development University Hong Kong. Member court Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Vice patron Community Chest Hong Kong.
Trustee Better Hong Kong Foundation. Patron Society Academy Performing Arts Hong Kong. Member Economic Council Macau.
Trustee Macau Foundation.
Over the years, dancing has been one of Ho's favourite hobbies, achieving excellence in tango, cha-cha-cha, and waltz. He often danced for televised charity fundraisers and has sponsored numerous dance performances in Hong Kong and Macau, including the Hong Kong Arts Festival and the Macau Arts Festival, promoting the art of dance. He has also invited internationally renowned dancing groups, such as the National Ballet of China, to perform in Hong Kong and Macau. Ho is a patron of the Hong Kong Ballet, the International Dance Teachers Association and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Dance. A thoroughbred racehorse owner, one of Ho's runners, Viva Pataca, named after the currency of Macau, won several top Hong Kong races in 2006 and 2007.
Ho has 17 children born to four women. He refers to his children's mothers as his wives. Polygamy remained legal in Hong Kong until 1971.
In 1942 Ho married his first wife, Clementina Leitão, a woman from a prestigious Portuguese family – her grandfather was a lawyer and was Macau's only notary public at the time. They had four children. In the late 1950s Ho met Lucina Laam King-ying, whom he legally married in Hong Kong, in 1962. Leitão was involved in a motor vehicle accident in 1973, and suffered partial memory loss as a result. Following her car accident, Leitão needed constant nursing care; Ina Chan, who became Ho's third 'wife' in 1985 and with whom Ho has had three children (an elder daughter and twins), was one of the nurses brought in to look after Leitão. In 1981, Ho's and Leitão's son Robert and daughter-in-law, Melanie Susan Potier ("Suki"), died in a car accident. Leitão died in 2004. Fourth 'wife' Angela Leong On-kei, with whom Ho has had five children, met Ho in 1988 at a private ball.
Ho handed over the reins of STDM to daughter Pansy Ho, who is also a 50 percent partner in MGM Macau; son Lawrence Ho is the CEO of Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd, another Macau-based casino company. Josie Ho is a rock singer and award-winning actress. His grandchildren are a perennial subject of local social columns and paparazzi.
