Stanley Ho Hung Sun has been made chairman emeritus of SJM Holdings Ltd, having retired from his positions as chairman, executive director and as a member of the executive committee of the board of the influential Macau casino company.
The change announced at Tuesday’s annual general meeting, sees the man acknowledged as the founder of Macau’s modern gaming industry shift from heading the SJM Holdings gaming empire to an honorary role, ending most of his hands-on involvement with the company.
The change – flagged in April – means there are two major moves among the leadership at SJM Holdings. The company confirmed on Tuesday to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that Daisy Ho Chiu Fung had succeeded Stanley Ho as chairman. The 53-year-old – one of his daughters – remains an executive director at the firm, a position she took in June last year. She served previously as a director at MGM Grand Paradise Ltd, the gaming licence holder for rival Macau gaming operator MGM China Holdings Ltd. She stepped down from that role at the end of 2010, according to media reports.
A third major change announced on Tuesday was the election of Ina Chan Un Chan, 64, as an SJM Holdings executive director. Ms Chan is the third consort of Stanley Ho and mother to three of his children. According to a Tuesday filing to the Hong Kong bourse, that same day the businessman’s fourth consort, Angela Leong On Kei, mother to his youngest children, was appointed as a co-chairman and confirmed as an executive director.
In announcing the 96-year-old entrepreneur’s retirement, SJM Holdings said its new chairman emeritus had “justifiably been acknowledged as the founding father of Macau’s gaming industry, which has for some time been the largest in the world in terms of revenue”. The announcement confirmed that he had no disagreement with the board and there was no matter that needed to be brought to the attention of shareholders.
