Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING DECEMBER 2018 36 Pansy Ho CO-CHAIRPERSON AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MGM China Holdings Ltd GROUP EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN AND MANAGING DIRECTOR Shun Tak Holdings DIRECTOR STDM POWER SCORE: 1,601 POSITION LAST YEAR: 14 CLAIMS TO FAME Among the most prominent of Dr Stanley Ho’s 17 children Has control of enormous amounts of Macau land 10 It has been a big few years for Pansy Ho. Among the most prominent of gaming kingpin Stanley Ho’s many children, she has evolved into one of Macau and Hong Kong’s most important businesswomen with interests in a range of real estate, travel and entertainment projects. However, it is her 22.49% personal stake inMacau gaming concessionaire MGMChina that she is perhaps most notable for. That stake took on extra significance in 2018 with MGM finally opening its long-awaited US$3.2 billion integrated resort MGM COTAI – giving the operator a much-needed presence in the heart of the SAR’s new gaming central. MGMCOTAI still only accounts for around a third of the company’s quarterly gaming revenue – a result of the late implementation of junket operations (which is still ongoing). Nevertheless, it is seen as a game-changer for MGM, whose Macau market share had fallen to around 7% by the end of 2017. The property adds another 1,390 hotel rooms toMGM’s city-wide inventory plus a state- of-the-art multi-purpose theater, MICE space and 14 new F&B venues. Ho has also made sure that her number one passion, art, is well catered for. MGM COTAI’s art collection, carefully compiled under her watchful eye, is worth more than HK$100 million and includes modern and contemporary Asian paintings and sculptures by renowned artists, freshly-commissioned works by local and regional rising talents and large-scale installations, among them 28 Chinese imperial carpets dating from the Qing Dynasty that previously adorned the Forbidden City in Beijing. Meanwhile, Ho continues to work tirelessly across an exhausting number of roles, among them Executive Chairman of Shun Tak Holdings, overseeing one of Macau’s biggest land owners with interests in a number of Macau gaming operators including Artyzen Hospitality Group, which owns Grand Lapa. Perhaps more notable is her role as a Director of STDM, the company Dr Ho founded in 1962, holder of Macau’s first gambling monopoly and parent company of current Macau concessionaire Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM). Ho is also a director for Oakmount Holdings Limited, Megaprosper Investments Limited, Beeston Profits Limited, Renita Investments Limited and Classic Time Developments Limited and holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and International Business Management from the University of Santa Clara in the US. ASIAN GAMING POWER 50 2 0 1 8