Mixed fortunes for gaming magnates on Forbes’ HK list

Feb 07, 2020 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Billionaires with gaming interests in Macau again feature prominently on this year’s Hong Kong’s 50 Richest People list. In the rundown compiled by Forbes magazine, Henry Kar Shun Cheng – the chairman of the Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group and New World Development, and who sits on the board at Macau casino operator SJM Holdings Ltd – jumped to third place this year.

Henry Cheng is up from 46th place on last year’s list, thanks says Forbes to a better understanding of the family’s fortune inherited from its patriarch, property tycoon Cheng Yu Tung, who died in 2016. The listing now includes the family’s collective wealth estimated at US$20.7 billion, of which Henry Cheng is deemed the representative. The family’s business empire has sought to expand its casino interests in recent years, via involvement in projects in Vietnam, Australia and the Bahamas.

The latest list compiled by the business magazine includes Lui Che Woo (pictured in a file photo), now rated the fifth-richest person in Hong Kong, climbing one spot from last year’s ranking. Mr Lui is the founder and chairman of Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. Forbes calculates his net worth at US$15.4 billion.

Next on the list is 23rd-richest Pansy Ho Chiu King, worth US$4.25 billion. She is a daughter of Macau casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung Sun, and the second-biggest investor in Macau casino operator MGM China Holdings Ltd. She also controls – via third-party companies – a big stake in SJM Holdings, which was founded by her father. She was 20th-richest in Hong Kong last year, with a fortune estimated at US$4.62 billion.

Falling to 29th this year from 24th in 2019 is Angela Leong On Kei, fourth consort of Stanley Ho and an executive director of SJM Holdings. The managing director of SJM Holdings and the biggest single shareholder in the company, her worth is thought to be US$3.2 billion, from US$4.2 billion in 2019.

The executive that controls Asian casino operator Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd, Lawrence Ho Yau Lung, has climbed one place to 33rd in this year’s ranking. Mr Ho is worth US$2.5 billion in this year’s list, from US$2.3 billion in 2019. He remains the youngest billionaire on the list at the age of 43.

In 45th place in the Forbes table of wealth, having fallen from 28th last year, is Pollyanna Chu Yuet Wah, worth US$1.75 billion this year, compared to US$3.3 billion in 2019. Ms Chu’s family is in the casino business through its control of the Kingston Financial Group Ltd, the investor in two so-called satellite casinos in Macau: Casa Real on the Macau peninsula and Grandview on Taipa.

The Forbes annual list is compiled using shareholding and financial information obtained from the individuals, stock exchanges, analysts and private databases.

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