Макао казиноларының королі Стэнли Хо: Өмір және мансап тарихы

Chinese entrepreneur

Stanley Ho Hung sun (; 25 November 192126 May 2020) was a Hong Kong Macau billionaire businessman. His original patrilineal surname was Bosman, which was later sinicized to 何 (Ho). He was the founder and chairman of SJM Holdings, which owns nineteen casinos in Macau including the Grand Lisboa. Ho was nicknamed variously Godfather and King of Gambling, reflecting the government granted monopoly he held on the Macau gambling industry for 40 years. His wealth was divided among his daughter, Pansy Ho ($5.3 billion) who owns MGM Macau, fourth wife Angela Leong ($4.1 billion) who is managing director of SJM Holdings, and son Lawrence Ho ($2.6 billion) who owns City of Dreams. Ho was the founder and chairman of Shun Tak Holdings, through which he owned many businesses including entertainment, tourism, shipping, real estate, banking, and air transport. It is estimated that his businesses employ almost one fourth of the workforce of Macau. Apart from Hong Kong and Macau, he also invested in mainland China, Portugal, North Korea where he operated a casino, Vietnam, the Philippines, Mozambique, Indonesia and East Timor. His opinions and statements on Hong Kong's real estate and commercial development had considerable sway on the market. In his later years, he had been involved in litigation with his sister, Winnie Ho, concerning the ownership of the Macau casino. Having suffered a stroke in July 2009, followed by a long period of recovery, Ho began steps in late 2010 to devolve his grip on his financial empire to his various wives and children. Ho died on 26 May 2020 at the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital.

He was of Chinese, Dutch Jewish and English ancestry. Ho was descended from his great grandfather, Charles Henry Maurice Bosman (1839–1892), who was of Dutch Jewish ancestry, and his Chinese mistress Sze Tai (施娣), a local Bao'an (present day Shenzhen and Hong Kong) woman. His grandfather was Ho Fook (何福), brother of the merchant Sir Robert Ho Tung. Ho was the ninth of thirteen children of Ho Sai kwong (何世光).

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. However, he later received 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. Following the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, Ho moved to Macau.

Ho began clerical work at a Japanese owned import export firm in Macau. He made his first fortune smuggling luxury goods and food In 1943 he set up a kerosene company and established a construction company with his money. Ho, along with partners including Hong Kong tycoon Henry Fok, 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 license in 1961, for US$410,000, of which US$51,000 was provided by Henry Fok. defeating the long time Macau casino barons, the Fu family, by MOP 17,000. In 1961 the company was renamed Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau, S. A. R. L. (STDM). In late 1962, Ho opened the Estoril Hotel, Macau's first luxury casino resort. Through a subsidiary, TurboJET, it owns one of the world's largest fleets of high speed jetfoils, which ferry passengers between Hong Kong and Macau. In the 1980s, Ho pioneered the practice of subcontracting private gambling rooms in his casinos to independent agents. Ho was named by the Canadian Government, citing the Manila Standard newspaper, as having a link to the Kung Lok Triad (Chinese mafia) and as being linked to "several illegal activities" during the period 1999–2002. Ho's alleged ties to Chinese organized crime have also been reported by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, citing a U. S. Senate committee and several government agencies, when the state investigated his ties to American casino operator MGM Mirage.

Over the years, dancing was one of Ho's favourite hobbies and he achieved excellence in the tango, cha cha cha, and waltz. He often danced for televised charity fundraisers and 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 also invited internationally renowned dancing groups, such as the National Ballet of China, to perform in Hong Kong and Macau. Ho was a patron of the Hong Kong Ballet, the International Dance Teachers Association and was a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Dance. One of a number of thoroughbred racehorses owned by Ho, Viva Pataca, named after the currency of Macau, won several top Hong Kong races in 2006 and 2007. In late July 2009, Ho suffered a fall at his home that required brain surgery. For seven months Ho was confined to the Hong Kong Adventist Hospital and, later, the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital, during which period he made only one public appearance, on 20 December 2009, when he travelled to Macau to meet Chinese president Hu Jintao on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Macau's return to Chinese sovereignty. Ho was discharged from the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital on 6 March 2010 and thereafter employed a wheelchair.

In 2003, Ho donated a Qing dynasty bronze boar's head to China's Poly Art Museum, a state run organisation that aims to develop, display, rescue and protect Chinese cultural relics. The boar's head is part of a collection of twelve looted from the imperial Summer Palace in
Beijing in 1860 when it was sacked and burnt by the French and British armies. On 21 September 2007, Ho donated to the Chinese government a Qing dynasty bronze sculpture of a horse's head originally taken from the Old Summer Palace. Ho had reportedly just purchased it from a Taiwanese businessman for US$8.84 million.

In late January 2011, a dispute erupted among his wives and children involving the transfer of ownership of his private holding company, Lanceford. On 27 December Lanceford allotted 9,998 new shares, representing 99.98 per cent of its enlarged share capital, to two British Virgin Islands companies: Action Winner Holdings Ltd, wholly owned by third wife, Ina, holding 50.55 per cent and Ranillo Investments Ltd, equally held by each of Laam's five children, holding the balance. The allotment document filed with the Registrar of Companies was signed by Laam's daughter Daisy. Ho issued proceedings in the High Court, naming its directors – 11 defendants, including his second and third wives, and children Pansy and Lawrence Ho, alleging the group "improperly and/or illegally" acted in changing the share structure. The writ sought an injunction restraining the defendants from selling or disposing any of the 9,998 new shares in the company. The two British Virgin Islands companies were also named in the writ. Ho said his intention from the outset was to divide his assets equally among his families and that the actions of the directors of Lanceford effectively eliminated this possibility, according to a statement issued by his lawyer Gordon Oldham.

In 1984, Ho was awarded an honorary doctorate of social sciences from the University of Macau in 1984. In the New Year Honours 1990, Ho was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (O. B. E.) "for services to the community in Hong Kong" In 1995, The Government of Portugal appointed Ho to the Grã Cruz da Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique (Great Cross of the Order of Prince Henrique), the highest honour for any civilian, for his contributions to society. In 1998, Dr. Stanley Ho Avenue in Macau was named, the first Chinese person to be so honoured in Macau during their lifetime. In 2003 Ho received the Gold Bauhinia Star from the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Tung Chee Hwa. In 2008 Ho received the Medal for Business Entrepreneurialism from the city of Cascais and the street running adjacent to the Estoril Casino was renamed as Avenida Stanley Ho. It was the first road in Portugal to be named after a living Chinese citizen. In June 2009 he received the Visionary award at the G2E Asia conference, organised by the American Gaming Association; the award was delivered by Macau SAR Chief Executive Edmund Ho. In November 2010, Ho was awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal.

Ho was in poor health in his last years, and stayed in hospital after his health deteriorated following a stroke in 2009. On 25 May 2020, Ho was reported to be in a critical condition, and he died at the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital on 26 May 2020, at around 1 pm local time. He was 98.

It Could Happen Here The Macau Tycoon : 1991 television film, portrayed by Jackie Lui Chung Yin. Casino Tycoon & Casino Tycoon 2 : 1992 films, the character Benny Ho, portrayed by Andy Lau. Chasing the Dragon II: Wild Wild Bunch : 2019 film, the character Stanford Ho, portrayed by Michael Wong.