Hong Kong businesswoman Winnie Ho, sister of casino tycoon Stanley Ho, dies aged 95, her spokeswoman confirms
She was thrust under the spotlight over her business dispute with her brother in the 2000s, and more recently in a court case highlighting an old affair with cousin and billionaire Eric Hotung
Her spokeswoman, Donna Yau, confirmed to the Post that she died at the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital on June 5 and would be buried in Chiu Yuen Cemetery on Mount Davis, near the westernmost edge of Hong Kong Island.
Ho’s grandfather was Ho Fook, the younger brother of influential colonial-era tycoon Robert Hotung. Born in Hong Kong, she later moved with her family to Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam in the early 1940s to flee the war. It was there that she developed an interest in the gaming industry.
She came back to Hong Kong and since the late 1950s, worked in the family business for 15 years.
Ho moved again to the United States, not returning until 1977 when she would work for casino operator Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM) in Macau. The company was co-founded by Stanley Ho and had been granted a monopoly in the gambling industry in Macau. It was not until 2000 that the city’s government proposed to split the sector among other operators.
Stanley Ho fumes as ‘unwell’ sister fails to turn up at court
Winnie Ho’s relationship with her brother turned ugly in the 2000s as they fought for control over STDM.
“I no longer regard her as a sister,” Stanley Ho was quoted as saying after a shareholders’ meeting in 2005 that ousted his sister from the board.
She sued the following year to retrieve HK$3 billion (US$382 million) in STDM dividends due to her. She had filed more than 30 lawsuits against her brother over money owed, defamation and share disputes.
“We don’t need all these lawyers if he plays by the rules and the law, and pays me back the money he owes me,” she said at the time. “But that’s just Stanley, always thinking he can walk over anybody.”
She claimed to have received threatening letters in 2004 and said her first solicitor in the case resigned after being attacked on two different occasions.
With the resolution of all the disputes between the siblings in 2008, STDM listed its casinos on the Hong Kong stock exchange and changed its name to Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, or SJM Holdings. Stanley Ho’s daughter, Daisy Ho, is now the chairwoman.
Stanley Ho, 96, has rarely been seen in public since he fell and hurt his head at home in 2009.
In 2011, Winnie Ho was pulled into a legal dispute when billionaire Eric Hotung, whom she was romantically involved with, sued her and their son Michael Hotung over HK$2 million. He claimed the money was given to them for an investment into Stanley Ho’s then fledgling gaming business in Macau in 1961.
I loved my secret girlfriend, Eric Hotung tells court
The case revealed details of the relationship between Winnie Ho and Eric Hotung, which began in 1956. Michael was born out of wedlock.
The court heard that Eric Hotung had transferred HK$2 million to the businesswoman in 1961, but he denied it was a gift, as the sum was equivalent to two-thirds of his personal wealth at the time. The tycoon, who died in 2017, told the court a year before that at the height of their affair, he was more occupied with lovemaking than telling Winnie Ho about his intentions for the money.
Additional Reporting by Chris Lau and Kanis Leung
