CLAIMS TO FAME
- Built Galaxy into Macau’s de facto local gaming champion
- Continuing to build out largest single land plot in Cotai via Galaxy Macau
- Holds strategic stakes in Monte Carlo casino operator SBM and Wynn Resorts
The driving force behind Galaxy Entertainment Group’s rise from a fledgling casino operator with no real gaming experience to one of Asia’s most dominant forces, Francis Lui now officially wears the title of Chairman – having been appointed last December following the passing of his father and company founder, Dr Lui Che Woo, in November 2024.
Needless to say, it is a fitting moniker for a man who has broken the mold in Macau: forging his own path to create what many would consider the greatest integrated resort in Asia – or at the very least one of its icons – by way of Galaxy Macau.
Lui went against the grain when he opted to take a conservative approach to the deployment of profits during Macau’s heyday of the mid-2010s, resulting in criticism from some quarters that the company was underutilizing its cash reserves while others were busy paying healthy dividends and splashing money on extravagant expansions. Yet he had the last laugh when the pandemic hit, with GEG being the only one of Macau’s six concessionaires not to rely on debt for survival.
Despite this conservative approach, Galaxy Macau remains the envy of the Asian gaming world as it continues to grow – opening Phase 3 in late 2023 to add two more hotel brands to the already substantial offering, plus Galaxy International Convention Center (GICC), more F&B and additional gaming space.
Phase 4, due to open in 2027, will take the number of hotel brands on site well into the double figures – including the likes of Raffles, Capella, Ritz-Carlton and Okura – surely enough to challenge Sands China’s position as Macau market leader.
This has been a good year for Lui and GEG. The company booked a net profit attributable to shareholders of HK$5.2 billion (US$669 million) in 1H25, up 19% on the previous year, from group-wide revenues of HK$23.2 billion (US$2.98 billion) – benefiting from the recent launch of premium gaming space at its new all-suite hotel Capella at Galaxy Macau.
It has also been credited as a leader in Macau’s latest entertainment play, hosting a series of high-profile concerts at GICC that analysts have credited for materially “moving the needle” for city-wide gaming revenues.
International expansion initiatives have been less successful: the company previously pulled out of Japan, and its recent interest in Thailand looks likely to go unfulfilled given the country’s fragile political state.
GEG has instead diversified via investments, holding a 5% stake in Monte Carlo SBM and a similar interest in Wynn Resorts, acquired in 2018.
More importantly, with cash and liquid investments of HK$30.7 billion (US$3.95 billion) as of 30 June 2025, the company has the financial strength to deploy as it sees fit – be it through strategic expansions to its already impressive Macau portfolio or, should the opportunity arise, into lucrative new markets.
It’s a position that makes Lui and GEG the envy of the gaming world.
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