Ho family influence in Macau gaming is not abating

Written on June 13, 2006 by admin

"(Ho's) very name brings an air of class and style to gambling, and anything he touches is known to turn to gold." — Gambling Online Magazine, 2004

June 12, 2006 - What do Kim Jong IL and J. Terrence Lanni have in common? They've both done business with Stanley Ho, who is the undisputed casino king of Macau, site of this week's Asian Gaming Expo. Ho is "a long-standing friend of the North Korean government," according to the Los Angeles Times, and owns a casino in Pyongyang, adjacent to Workers' Party headquarters. In 2003, Ho acted as a go-between when Kim Jong IL's regime offered asylum to Saddam Hussein.

As MGM Mirage CEO, Lanni paid Ho $209 million for a Macau casino subconcession, a joint venture between MGM Mirage and Pansy Ho, the elder Ho's daughter and business "heir apparent," according to China Daily. MGM Mirage owns half of the joint venture, MGM Grand Paradise, as does Pansy Ho. She also receives a consulting fee, .87 percent of the $1.06 billion cost of the in-progress, 28-story MGM Grand Macau casino-resort.

Pansy Ho's minority interest in the 28-story MGM Grand Macau has attracted scrutiny from gaming regulators.

Pansy Ho, 44, is managing director of Shun Tak Holdings, the Ho family's blue-chip transportation outfit, founded in 1972. It controls more than 90 percent of the ferry traffic between Macau and Hong Kong, including a 20-vessel jetfoil fleet. Shun Tak holds an ownership stake in Stanley Ho's profitable conglomerate, Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM). STDM is majority owner of Ho's casino business, Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM). In June 2004, the Hong Kong Standard reported that Shun Tak directly owned 11.5 percent of SJM. In 2003, Pansy Ho was elected to STDM's board. She also chairs the Macau Tower Convention & Entertainment Centre, built by her father. Small wonder a Las Vegas Sands executive described the Ho family's Macanese connections as "byzantine."