14 Pansy Ho
CO-CHAIRPERSON AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
MGM China Holdings
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN AND MANAGING DIRECTOR
Shun Tak Holdings
DIRECTOR
STDM
CLAIMS TO FAME
• Among the most prominent of Dr Stanley Ho’s 17 children
• Has control of enormous amounts of Macau land
POWER SCORE 1,335 LAST YEAR 16
The eldest of five children from Macau gaming godfather Dr Stanley Ho’s second marriage, Pansy Ho is one of the most active businesswomen in the city.
Among her exhausting number of roles, she has served as Managing Director of Shun Tak Holdings since 1999 where she oversees one of Macau’s biggest land owners and has interests in a number of Macau gaming operators including Artyzen Hospitality Group, which owns Grand Lapa.
Those responsibilities have only increased in 2017 after stepping into the role of Executive Chairman following her 96-year-old father’s resignation in June.
Perhaps more notable is her role as a Director of STDM, the company Dr Ho founded in 1962, holder of a Macau 40-year gambling monopoly and parent company of current Macau concessionaire Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM).
But it is her role as Co-Chairperson and Executive Director of MGM China – of which she holds a 22.49% stake – that has seen Ho wield the most influence on Macau’s gaming industry. The board role aside, she has been directly responsible for turning MGM Macau into one of the city’s must-see destinations for art lovers with an extensive array of fine art found through the property.
Ho also had significant input into MGM Macau’s renowned Grand Praça area and has reportedly been highly active in regards to design elements of MGM Cotai, including various public areas and its dynamic theater.
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.
It is perhaps in part because of this busy schedule that she has thus far refrained from moving to gain control of SJM from her father’s fourth wife, Angela Leong, after a 2011 agreement that saw Leong given a guaranteed six year role as Executive Director of SJM with Ho remaining as a director of STDM instead. Leong’s six year guarantee expired in early 2017.
To return to the full list of 2017 Asian Gaming Power 50 winners, click here.