Ho disputed a supposed transfer of his entire stake to five of his children and one of his wives, calling it a “robbery” contrary to his desire to divide the fortune equally among various family members. In 2011, a very public feud erupted over control of his multibillion-dollar stake in Macao casino operator SJM Holdings Ltd. Another daughter, Josie, is an actress and singer. His son Lawrence runs another competitor, Melco. The new players brought slick offerings to compete with SJM’s nearly two dozen no-frills casinos, but Ho’s group waited years to build its own lavish megaresort.ĭaughter Pansy is co-chair of rival MGM’s Macao casino business. and MGM Resorts International, spurring a building boom that transformed the sleepy, seedy former colonial outpost into a glitzy gambling powerhouse frequented by high-rolling mainland Chinese. That brought in foreign rivals including Las Vegas Sands Corp., Wynn Resorts Ltd. Portugal transferred control of its colony Macao to China in 1999 and Ho’s monopoly ended in 2002.

He met Leong, a dancer and former ballroom dancing instructor, through his love of the tango and the cha-cha, Ho fathered children with two other women, Ina Chan and Angela Leong, whom he also referred to as his “wives.” Ho reportedly met Chan, a nurse, when she was hired to care for Leitao, who died in 2004. About the same time, Ho married Lucina Laam under a Qing dynasty code allowing men to take multiple wives that Hong Kong outlawed in 1971. In 1948, Ho married Clementina Leitao, daughter of a prominent lawyer in Macao with ties to Portugal and to Macao high society, connections that may have helped him win the casino monopoly in 1962.

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