Casino tycoon Stanley Ho dies at 98

KUALA LUMPUR (May 26): Macau casino emperor Stanley Ho (pictured) has died today at the age of 98, say reports.

Well known for having built a fortune based on casinos in the former Portuguese colony from the ground up, he became one of Asia’s richest persons.

"My father has passed away peacefully just now at around 1 pm at Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital," Ho's daughter Pansy told the media.

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that he is survived by 15 of the 17 children he had with four women.

Ho is reported to have “referred” to the mothers of his children as his wives, three of whom also survive him, said the SCMP report.

Channel News Asia reported that Ho stepped down as chairman from his Hong Kong-based conglomerate Shun Tak Holdings in 2017, handing over the reins his daughter Pansy.

“It’s the end of an era,” Allan Zeman, the non-executive chairman of Wynn Macau (one of the territory’s six gambling concessionaires), told SCMP.

Ho was “a very important part of Hong Kong” and influenced Macau’s gaming industry for decades, Zeman said.

Ho's personal fortune was estimated at 50 billion HK dollars (RM27.9 billion) when he retired in 2018,reported CGTN.

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