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Stanley Ho in 2008.

Jerome Favre/Bloomberg News

Stanley Ho, the patriarch behind the largest gaming empire in Asia, has died at the age of 98.

Ho built a casino empire in the Chinese territory of Macau through his flagship firm, SJM Holdings, that helped transform the former Portuguese colony into the world’s biggest gambling hub.

The Casino Lisboa, which is operated by SJM Holdings.

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Before stepping down as chairman of SJM in 2018, Ho had divided up his empire among his various family members. Ho called four different women his wives, and fathered at least 17 children, several of whom now sit at the helm of companies that account for half of Macau’s six gaming licenses.

Pansy Ho.

Anthony Kwan/Bloomberg

Pansy Ho, the eldest daughter with his second wife, was once ranked the richest woman in Hong Kong before her fortune declined to its current level of $3.7 billion. She had replaced her father as chairperson of Shun Tak Holdings, a real estate developer that runs ferries between Hong Kong and Macau and also operates hotels. Her sister Daisy Ho became the chairperson of SJM when their father retired from the position two years ago.

Lawrence Ho.

Akio Kon/Bloomberg

Lawrence Ho, his son also from his second wife, controls Nasdaq-listed casino operator Melco Resorts via Hong Kong-listed Melco International Development. His net worth is currently estimated at $2 billion.

Angela Leong, SJM’s co-chair and second-largest shareholder whom Ho referred to as his fourth wife, has a net worth estimated at $3.2 billion

Stanley Ho with Angela Leong at the listing ceremony of SJM Holdings in Hong Kong on July 16, 2008.

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Nicknamed the “King of Macau,” Ho was the great-nephew of Sir Robert Hotung, a prominent early 20th-century Hong Kong businessman and philanthropist who held the distinction of being the first Chinese person to live on the city’s prestigious Victoria Peak.

Although he was born into a family of wealth and privilege, Ho would experience poverty by the time he was in his teens. When the Japanese invaded Hong Kong in 1941, Ho fled to Macau where he made his first fortune smuggling goods into China. 

In 1962, Ho, together with a group of investors, won the exclusive right to run all of Macau’s gambling operations until 2001. SJM redefined the city’s skyline when it completed the Grand Lisboa in 2007, a 48-story tower said to be shaped like a lotus flower.

After Macau was handed back to China following more than 400 years of Portuguese rule, gaming licenses were awarded to SJM along with Galaxy Entertainment Group, Melco Resorts & Entertainment, MGM China Holdings, Sands China and Wynn Macau.

Ho first appeared on the Forbes rankings of the World’s Billionaires in 1992 with a net worth of at least $1.1 billion. He was a longtime fixture on the lists until his last appearance in 2011, when his fortune was reduced through a series of share transfers to family members that sparked a public feud over control of his empire.

Ho, who had suffered a head injury in an accident at home in mid-2009 that required brain surgery, said that he wanted his fortune divided equally between the four branches of his family. A few months later, they said the dispute had been fully resolved.

The flamboyant tycoon had been a lavish spender and avid ballroom dancer, but his declining health in recent years limited his public appearances. He is survived by three of his wives—Lucina Laam, Ina Chan and Angela Leong. His first wife, Clementina Leitão, passed away in 2004 at the age of 80.

— With assistance by John Kang.

Pedestrians cross an intersection in front of the Grand Lisboa in Macau, China on March 12, 2015.

Billy H.C. Kwok/Bloomberg