CHAIRMAN
Chow Tai Fook
POWER SCORE: 615
POSITION LAST YEAR: 34
CLAIMS TO FAME
- Inherited father Cheng Yu-tung’s 10% of SJM Holdings parent STDM
- Strategic partner of Australia’s Star Entertainment Group with a 4.99% stake
- Acquired Baha Mar, largest resort in the Caribbean, from Chinese state creditors
THE CHOW TAI FOOK and New World empire is so diversified that even the ghastliness of a pandemic cannot harm its fundamentals.
But Henry Cheng’s grab-bag of disparate casino operations and legacy stake in STDM/SJM is sporting some damage from global misfortune.
The most fiscally substantial of these assets currently in operation is Cheng’s nearly 10% stake in STDM, but subsidiary SJM Holdings is struggling in Macau as its cash burns, debts grow and lending facilities become ever more important by the month.
Looking forward, Chow Tai Fook’s massive investment in Star Entertainment Group’s Queen’s Wharf Brisbane integrated resort could be the jewel in the company’s crown, but even this is under new pressure.
In yet another litigation of industry ties to the late Stanley Ho, Australian media are calling foul on Chow Tai Fook’s alleged links to organized crime, akin to nefarious connections unearthed between Star and junket operators or Crown Resorts and its associates.
If Chow Tai Fook’s team in Brisbane can stare down a regulatory probe into its activities and weaponize its formidable customer base to compensate for state junket bans, then the future for Henry Cheng in Asian gaming doesn’t look too bad at all.
For the full list of 2022 Asian Gaming Power 50 winners, click here.
