Macau's Gambling Tycoon Divides Casino Empire

Billionaire Stanley Ho, considered one of Hong Kong's richest men with a net worth that according to Forbes magazine exceeds $3.1 Billion, has ended months of speculations and legal battles over the future of his sprawling empire.

Ho, approaching his 90st birthday is a gambling mogul whose companies own almost all casinos in Macau, the ex-Portuguese colony to the shores of the South China Sea. He amassed his fortune over five decades after being granted a gambling monopoly by Macau's Portuguese-led colonial government back in 1962.

The monopoly was in place until 2001, two years after the handover of control over the region back to the Chinese. This resulted in licenses to operate a casino in Macau being approved for the likes of Steve Wynn and his Wynn Resorts Ltd. and Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands Corp.

In recent years gambling revenue in Macau was over four times that of the Las Vegas Strip, which would explain the eagerness of Las Vegas gambling moguls such as Wynn and Adelson to enter the Macau gambling and tourism industry.

Nevertheless Ho's company managed to rise and maintain itself as Asia's largest casino and resorts company. In 2010 SJM Holdings Ltd. parented by Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau SA (STDM), posted a jump in profits of almost 400% in the previous year.

Ho, who has four wives and sixteen surviving children, has been dealing with constantly increasing family dispute over right over the company. The continuous dispute has caused some of his children to file lawsuits against him.

It appears that now Ho has finally reached a fair divide that will hopefully end the dispute and secure the future and prosperity of STDM and SJM Holdings. Ho himself kept 0.117% in the parent STDM.

The news was clearly welcomed by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as SJM stock rose higher than it has in the past two months. Investors now hope that this is the end of the Ho family saga and that the cloud of uncertainty that was covering the future of the company in recent months has been lifted.