Inside Asian Gaming

IAG NOV 2020年11月亞博匯 88 2020 POWER 50 AMBROSE SO VICE-CHAIRMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CEO SJM Holdings DIRECTOR Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, SA 蘇樹輝 副主席、執行董事兼行政總裁 澳門博彩控股有限公司 董事 澳門博彩股份有限公司 26 POWER SCORE 權能指數 : 1,006 POSITION LAST YEAR 去年排名 : 23 IN HIS NEARLY 45 YEARS as part of SJM and its antecedents, Ambrose So has proven to be a survivor. Now, it’s time for So to ensure SJM is a survivor, too. Grand Lisboa Palace, scheduled to open soon as the former monopoly’s first Cotai property, is a make or break moment for the gaming concessionaire founded by Stanley Ho. Since Ho fell in his bathroom in July 2009, with SJM having retaken Macau’s gaming market share lead, the company’s trajectory has been steadily downward, reporting a 14.1% share last year. Much of the problem has been the shift of Macau’s center of gaming gravity from the peninsula to Cotai. The fall that effectively ended Stanley Ho’s business career came less than two years after the opening of Venetian Macao as the first Cotai integrated resort and just weeks after Melco’s City of Dreams became the third Cotai property with Sands China’s Plaza/Four Season complex debuting in August 2008. By then, Ho likely saw the writing on the wall, but we’ll never know how he would have reacted. We know how Ambrose So reacted. As SJM’s most senior executive – dating back to 1976 with predecessor and majority owner STDM – So was best placed to keep SJM moving forward and prevent it from being sidetracked by inevitable issues generated by Ho’s sprawling family featuring four spouses and 17 offspring. Judge the results for yourself. SJM can’t get back its lost decade-plus, but it can begin putting things right with HK$39 billion (US$5 billion) Grand Lisboa Palace. Its 1,900 hotel rooms will virtually double guest capacity under SJM management while adding hundreds of tables, big time retail and more than 30 F&B options. GLP will be the first new property SJM entirely controls since Grand Lisboa opened in 2007. SJM’s peninsula flagship proved to be an effective response to Sands Macao, with rooms, food and guest service upping market standards, just as Stanley Ho had decades earlier with the original Lisboa. The question remains whether SJM can live up to that legacy without its founding father. Sadly, a dozen years on, no one knows the answer. 在蘇樹輝加入 澳博及其前身差不多四十五年的日子裏，他充分展現了自己的 頑強與不撓，現在就是他確保澳博可以同樣的姿態生存的時刻。原本差不多要 開業的上葡京，是這從前由何鴻燊創立的澳門博彩市場前壟斷者的第一間路 氹物業，現在則成了這個賭牌承批人的成敗關鍵。 自從何鴻燊在2009年7月於家中浴室跌倒，以及澳博重奪澳門博彩市場 佔有率首位後，該公司似乎一直在走下坡，並在去年錄得市場佔有率僅14.1% ，這很大程度上是由於澳門的博彩中心已從澳門的半島轉移到路氹區。 那次在浴室的跌倒，基本上為何鴻燊的商業生涯畫上句號。其時，澳門威 尼斯人這路氹第一間綜合度假村開業不到兩年，而且新濠的新濠天地也在數 週前開門迎客，成為繼金沙中國於2008年8月開幕的百利宮/四季項目後第三 間在路氹的綜合度假村設施。何鴻燊在那時很有可能已經察覺到這些徵兆，但 我們永遠不會知道他本來會如何作出反應。 可是蘇樹輝的反應我們就知得一清二楚。作為澳博最高層，於1976年加 入澳博的前身及最大股東澳娛的蘇樹輝是帶領澳博繼續前行的最佳人選，並 且讓公司不會受到何鴻燊四房及17名子女間無可避免的風波所動搖。 澳博無法追回它過去十多年間的失落，但卻可以通過其價值390億港元 (50億美元)的上葡京來撥亂反正。該物業的1900間酒店客房，讓澳博旗下的客 房數量倍增，並且為公司帶來數百張新賭枱、巨大的零售空間和超過30個餐飲 選項。 上葡京將會是繼2007年開幕的新葡京後首間由澳博全面控制的新物 業。澳博在澳門半島的旗艦設施，通過提供市場標準之上的酒店客房、飲食及 客戶服務來有效地應對了金沙澳門，就像何鴻燊通過舊葡京在數十年前所做 的事一樣。現在的問題是：澳博在其創始人缺席的情況下能否讓其光芒繼續。 可惜的是，在過了十數年後，依然未有人可以道出答案。 CLAIMS TO FAME 名成事跡 Stanley Ho’s right hand man for decades Noted calligrapher whose work featured at Stanley Ho’s funeral • • • • 在數十年間作為何鴻燊的左右手 出名的書法好手，作品有出現在何鴻燊的喪禮當中