Pansy Ho

Pansy Catalina Ho Chiu-king ONM (Chinese: 何超瓊; born 26 August 1962) is a Hong Kong-Canadian billionaire businesswoman who is the daughter of Macau-based businessman Stanley Ho, and the managing director of various companies he founded, including Shun Tak Holdings and the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau.[3][4][5] She was named 16th on Forbes’ list of Hong Kong’s 50 richest people in 2019. [6]

Pansy Ho
Born
何超瓊
Ho Chiu-king

(1962-08-26) 26 August 1962
Portuguese Macau
CitizenshipCanada[1]
Hong Kong[2]
Alma materSanta Clara University (BA)
OccupationCasino executive
Net worthUS$3.6 billion (May 2020)[2]
Spouse(s)Julian Hui (1991–2000)
Parent(s)Stanley Ho
Lucina Laam
RelativesJosie Ho
(sister)
Lawrence Ho
(brother)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese何超瓊
Simplified Chinese何超琼

Early life and education

Pansy Ho was born on 26 August 1962, the eldest of five children of Stanley Ho and Lucina Laam King Ying.[7] She has three sisters and one brother. Her third sister Josie is a singer, and her brother Lawrence is also a businessman.

She attended an all-girls high school Castilleja School in Palo Alto, California[8] and went on to attend Santa Clara University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in marketing and business.[5] Ho had also attended St. Paul's Convent School in Causeway Bay (Hong Kong) as part of her Junior and Senior High School.

Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island awarded her an honorary doctorate in May 2007.[9]

Career

In 1981, Ho began a brief career in the Hong Kong entertainment industry, appearing with actor Danny Chan, who himself had then just been in the industry for two years, in the TVB series Breakthrough (突破).[10][11] Later, at age 26, she launched her own public relations firm.[4] She also supported her sister Josie Ho's efforts to establish her own singing career in the early 1990s over the objection of their father.[12]

Ho owns 29% of the MGM Grand Macau, an association which has proven controversial for business partner MGM Mirage. Nevada's Gaming Control Board and Gaming Commission held extensive hearings in March 2007 on the matter of MGM's partnership with Ho, after which they found that she was a suitable business partner.[13] However, in March 2010, she was barred from running a gaming business in New Jersey due to state gaming regulators' conclusion, based on Cap 148 Gambling Ordinance (kui yau yat tiu gui lun),[14] that her father has "extensive ties" to organised crime, and MGM Mirage was ordered to "disengage itself from any business association" with her.[13] After the passing of her father on 26 May 2020, she is now expected to consolidate control under the Sociedade de Jogos de Macau umbrella.[15]

Positions held

In Hong Kong, she serves as vice-chairperson and executive committee member of the Hong Kong Federation of Women and vice president of the Hong Kong Girl Guides Association. She is the founding honorary advisor and board director of The University of Hong Kong Foundation for Educational Development and Research, court member of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and chairman of the development committee of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She was appointed Justice of the Peace by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2015.[16]

In China, she is a standing committee member of Beijing municipal committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, standing committee member of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and vice president of China Chamber of Tourism.[17]

Ho serves as chairwoman of the French Macao Business Association.[18]In April 2009, she was named Chevalier de l'Ordre national du Mérite in a ceremony at the French consulate-general of Hong Kong.[18] She is also a committee member of United Nations Development Programme – Peace & Development Foundation, executive committee member of World Travel and Tourism Council and was appointed the first ambassador for the Louvre in China in 2013.[19]

Personal life

Ho married Julian Hui, son of shipping magnate Hui Sai-fun, in 1991. They divorced in 2000.[20] Late in their marriage, both began seeking other relationships; Ho entered into a relationship with Gilbert Yeung, the son of her father's hospitality and entertainment industry competitor, Albert Yeung. However, Gilbert Yeung's arrest for drug possession in August 2000 at Ho's birthday party focused unwanted media attention on Ho and her relationship with him; Ho's father also made comments in interviews threatening to disown her if she married him. This led to the end of Ho's relationship with Yeung, and also the public announcement that she and Hui would be seeking a divorce.[21][22]

Ho's ties to Chinese organised 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 her ties to American casino operator MGM Mirage.[23] Ho's father, Stanley Ho, was also 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"[24] during the period 1999–2002.

In 2018, she spent HK$900 million on a property in one of Hong Kong's most exclusive neighbourhoods, The Peak, then Asia's second-highest price for a residential property.[25]

References
  1. "MGM deal makes Pansy Ho HK's richest woman".
  2. "Forbes profile: Pansy Ho". Forbes. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  3. "Family embroiled in feud over Stanley Ho gambling empire | The Star". thestar.com. 28 January 2011.
  4. Cottrell, Christopher (12 March 2008), "The Macao maven - China's Power Women", China International Business, archived from the original on 7 July 2011, retrieved 19 March 2010
  5. Ruwitch, John (27 January 2008), "Pansy Ho in the spotlight after opening the $1.25 billion MGM Grand in Macao", The New York Times, retrieved 19 March 2010
  6. "Pansy Ho steps into the spotlight as de facto head and uniter of the sprawling clan after the passing of the King of Gambling". South China Morning Post. 30 May 2020.
  7. "Pansy Ho Net Worth 2020 | Annual Income & Revenue". RichestDot. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  8. "Hello! TAI TAI .com - PANSY HO". www.presidiopenthouse.com.
  9. "Johnson & Wales graduation this week", Providence Journal, 16 May 2007, retrieved 19 March 2010
  10. "赌王家事：强悍的二房子女", Sing Tao, 27 September 2009, archived from the original on 26 May 2010, retrieved 19 March 2010
  11. "何超瓊憶陳百強長氣愛傾心事", Ming Pao, 20 September 2009, archived from the original on 18 July 2011, retrieved 19 March 2010
  12. Seno, Alexandra A. (8 January 2008), "Josie Ho: Tracking a star, from Hong Kong to Sundance", The New York Times, retrieved 19 March 2010
  13. Stutz, Howard (20 May 2009), "Gambling Beyond Nevada: New Jersey regulators say MGM partner is unsuitable; daughter of Hong Kong billionaire Stanley Ho owns 50% of MGM Grand Macau", Las Vegas Review-Journal, retrieved 19 March 2010
  14. "Hong Kong Ordinances". Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  15. "Death of China's King of Gambling Gives Empire Reins to Daughter".
  16. "Pansy Ho", Our Hong Kong Foundation
  17. "Pansy Ho", Our Hong Kong Foundation
  18. Pansy Ho, Knight of L'Ordre National du Mérite, Hong Kong: Consulate-General of France, 14 April 2009, retrieved 19 March 2010
  19. "Pansy Ho", Our Hong Kong Foundation
  20. "Michelle marries Julian", The Star, 2 September 2007, retrieved 19 March 2010
  21. "A Split in the Family", CNN AsiaWeek, 15 September 2000, retrieved 19 March 2010
  22. "杨其龙与两女友何超琼 MaggieQ锵锵三人行", Sina News, 4 February 2002, retrieved 19 March 2010
  23. "N.J. Says Casino Magnate Has Mob Ties in China". The New York Times.
  24. "Organized Crime and Terrorist Activity in Canada" (PDF). Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  25. "Pansy Ho Snaps Up Hong Kong Peak Mansion For A Cool HK$900 Million".
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