After serving the Shun Tak Holdings board for more than four decades, Macau’s gambling king Stanley Ho is handing over the reins of the Hong Kong conglomerate he founded to his daughter, Pansy Ho.
In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the company said the 95-year-old magnate has stepped down from his position as chairman of Shun Tak Holdings. He also ceased to be a director or officer at the conglomerate, and instead will take on the title of chairman emeritus.
The flamboyant tycoon, who heads one of the most lucrative gaming businesses through SJM Holdings, is credited for helping transform the city state from a sleepy peninsula into the world’s biggest gambling hub. After suffering a stroke in 2009, the elder Ho, who has four wives and 16 children, started decentralizing his corporate empire and allowing his family members manage it.
Pansy Ho, 54, has been the managing director of Shun Tak Holdings before taking over as the group’s executive chairman. Her sisters, Daisy and Maisy, also hold the positions of deputy managing director and executive director of the company, respectively.
Pansy, who has been appointed Justice of the Peace by the Macau government in 2015, has beneficial interests in, and is a director of, Shun Tak Shipping Company, Limited, Renita Investments Limited, Oakmount Holdings Limited, Beeston Profits Limited, Classic Time Developments Limited, and Megaprosper Investments Limited. She holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and international business management from the University of Santa Clara in the United States.
Like her father, Pansy Ho’s appointment is subject to retirement by rotation and re-election at annual general meeting. She will receive fees of HK$50,000 (US$6,411) per annum for her role as director of the company, and an additional HK$60,000 (US$7,693) per annum for being a director of a subsidiary of the company. Ho will also receive HK$802,837 (US$102,945) and a discretionary bonus under her employment contract with the conglomerate.
Pansy Ho holds 161,865,937 personal shares of Shun Tak Holdings, 428,838,627 in corporate shares, and 148,883,374 unissued shares of the company, according to the filing.
