In addition, thanks to her relationship with Angela Leong, Chu Lee Yuet-wah resumed her father's old job, returned to Macau and bought two hotels, contracted the casino halls in Macau and developed the junket business. If Chu Lee Yuet-wah can obtain a casino license, she can immediately operate on her own and will no longer need to contract the casino halls with the Ho family. Moreover, they have another trump card that they have not yet played, namely the Cheng Yu-tung family.
When Cheng Yu-tung was still alive, he also intended to bid for a gaming license. Moreover, now his grandson Adrian Cheng is in charge, and Chu Lee Yuet-wah has a very good relationship with Adrian Cheng. If Chu Lee Yuet-wah were to persuade the Cheng Yu-tung family to join, then Angela Leong's chances of successfully running for a gaming license would become much greater.
Just when everyone thought the outcome was decided and the fourth wife had won, ready to open the champagne, Pansy Ho played her last trump card: the Fok family.
MGM Macau, Shun Tak Holdings, and Melco International were companies that no one else had a chance to get involved with. The most crucial one was SJM Holdings, the core company of the Ho family. When Stanley Ho retired, his arrangement was for Pansy Ho and Angela Leong to manage the company together. However, this arrangement was actually quite subtle.
We all know that two tigers cannot share one mountain. If two people manage a company together, and disagreements arise, whose opinion should be followed? This can easily lead to conflict. Stanley Ho had a plan in place: he appointed his long-time associate, Ambrose So, as the company's vice chairman to assist Pansy Ho and Angela Leong.
Pansy Ho is the younger sister of Daisy Ho, and to some extent, she represents Daisy Ho. When Stanley Ho made this arrangement, Daisy Ho responded quickly, persuading the Fok family to have Timothy Fok fully support the second branch of the family. The Fok family already had the best relationship with the second branch, and given their considerable strength, Timothy Fok chose to cooperate with them.
Why drag the Fok family into the Ho family's own problems? The key lies with SJM Holdings, the company behind SJM. In 1961, Yip Hon, the "God of Gambling," planned to bid for a Macau gaming license, but lacked the financial strength. So he sought help from Stanley Ho's brother-in-law, Yip Tak-lee. Yip Tak-lee then brought in Stanley Ho.
Later, in order to strengthen his own power, Stanley Ho recruited Henry Fok. Yip Hon, intending for Stanley Ho to have a monopoly, also agreed to let Henry Fok join. Henry Fok was initially reluctant to get involved in the gambling business, but Stanley Ho suggested that the profits from obtaining the gambling license should be used for charity, which is why Henry Fok agreed to join.
So, these individuals later jointly established Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau (STDM) and obtained a gaming license. Through continuous mergers and acquisitions, Stanley Ho became the largest shareholder of STDM, while Henry Fok became the second-largest shareholder. In 2007, SJM Holdings was established and listed in Hong Kong. After its listing, SJM Holdings held 90% of the shares in the underlying licensed companies. STDM, in turn, held over 50% of SJM Holdings' shares.
In other words, controlling SJM Holdings means controlling SJM, and thus controlling the underlying licensed companies. Originally, the Stanley Ho family was the largest shareholder of SJM Holdings, holding more than 40% of the shares. However, the problem is that after their family split, whether it was the second, third, or fourth wife's family, none of them held as many shares as the Fok family.
The Fok family holds a 26% stake in the company through the Fok Ying Tung Foundation in Macau. In 2003, to fulfill his promise not to profit from gambling, Fok Ying Tung voluntarily donated his shares in SJM Holdings to the Fok Ying Tung Foundation. Of course, the chairman of the foundation remains Fok Chun Ting.
So, after the Ho family split, Pansy Ho sought to control SJM Holdings by partnering with Henry Fok. Many might wonder why Henry Fok didn't partner with the third or fourth wife's family. The Fok family is very traditional; of Stanley Ho's four wives, only the first and second were legally married. The first wife's family, needless to say, had long since declined. The third and fourth wives' positions were illegitimate, and their power was not as strong as the second wife's. Therefore, if the Fok family were to partner with anyone, they would undoubtedly choose the second wife's family.
Back when Stanley Ho was still alive, each of his wives would take turns celebrating his birthday. However, the Fok family always only attended the birthday banquet hosted by the second wife. Several years ago, Pansy Ho reached an agreement with the Fok family, and they became acting in concert. Their combined shares were already around 50%, giving them absolute control.
To further strengthen her relationship with the Fok family, Pansy Ho has been actively engaging with younger members like Kenneth Fok. Kenneth Fok is currently enjoying a very promising political future and can be considered the future representative of the Fok family. Angela Leong, during her bidding for the gaming license last year, stated that she would focus more on her personal development. She has already helped the Ho family renew their gaming license, and the Grand Lisboa Palace project, which she spearheaded, has successfully opened. She has done what she was supposed to do.
However, Pansy Ho's approach was somewhat suicidal. While she gained control, she also allowed the Fok family to enter Macau, and she even helped them obtain a gambling license. But there was nothing she could do about it.
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