Pansy Catalina Ho Chiu-king (; born 26 August 1962) is a Hong Kong-Canadian billionaire businesswoman who is the daughter of Macau-based businessman Stanley Ho, and the managing director of various companies he founded, including

Shun Tak Holdings Shun Tak Holdings Limited () is a Hong Kong-Macau company founded in 1972. It has been one of the constituents of the Hang Seng Hong Kong MidCap Index since 11 September 2006. The company is active in shipping, property, hospitality and investme ...

. Pansy has major interests in two of the six casino licence-holders in

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...

. She was named 25th on

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

’ list of Hong Kong’s 50 richest people in 2021 with an estimated fortune of HK$31.8 billion (US$4.1 billion), and the 2nd richest woman in Hong Kong.

Early life and education

Pansy Ho was born on 26 August 1962, the eldest of five children of Stanley Ho and Lucina Laam King Ying. She has three sisters, one brother and twelve half-siblings. Her second sister Daisy is the Chairman of

SJM Holdings SJM is an abbreviation of: * Swadeshi Jagaran Manch *Svalbard and Jan Mayen * Servi Jesu et Mariae * Samyukta Janamorcha Nepal *Super Junior-M in business: *The NYSE symbol for The J.M. Smucker Co. *''Sociedade de Jogos de Macau'', casino subsidia ...

, her third sister Josie is a singer, and her brother

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

is also a businessman. She attended an all-girls high school Castilleja School in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

and went on to attend Santa Clara University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in marketing and business. Ho had also attended St. Paul's Convent School in Causeway Bay (Hong Kong) as part of her Junior and Senior High School.

Johnson & Wales University Johnson & Wales University (JWU) is a private university with its main campus in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded as a business school in 1914 by Gertrude I. Johnson and Mary T. Wales, JWU enrolled 7,357 students across its campuses in the fa ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

awarded her an honorary doctorate in May 2007.

Career

In 1981, Ho began a brief career in the Hong Kong entertainment industry, appearing with actor

Danny Chan Danny Chan Pak-Keung (; 7 September 1958 – 25 October 1993) was a Hong Kong singer, songwriter, records producer and actor. He is widely recognised as the first modern day pop idol in Hong Kong, gaining fame alongside performers Alan Tam, ...

, who himself had then just been in the industry for two years, in the

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and ...

series ''Breakthrough'' (突破). Later, at age 26, she launched her own

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

firm. She also supported her sister

Josie Ho Josephine "Josie" Ho Chiu-yi (; born 26 December 1974) is a singer and actress from Hong Kong. She is the daughter of the Macao casino magnate Stanley Ho. Acting career She has played many roles, including portraying the parts of prostitutes, whic ...

's efforts to establish her own singing career in the early 1990s over the objection of their father. Ho owns 29% of the MGM Grand Macau, an association which has proven controversial for business partner

MGM Mirage MGM Resorts International is an American global hospitality and entertainment company operating destination resorts in Las Vegas, Massachusetts, Detroit, Mississippi, Maryland, and New Jersey, including Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, and Pa ...

. Nevada's Gaming Control Board and Gaming Commission held extensive hearings in March 2007 on the matter of MGM's partnership with Ho, after which they found that she was a suitable business partner. However, in March 2010, she was barred from running a gaming business in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

due to state gaming regulators' conclusion, based on Cap 148 Gambling Ordinance (''kui yau yat tiu gui lun''), that her father has "extensive ties" to

organised crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

, and

was ordered to "disengage itself from any business association" with her. After the passing of her father on 26 May 2020, she is expected to consolidate control under the Sociedade de Jogos de Macau umbrella.

Positions held

In Hong Kong, she serves as vice-chairperson and executive committee member of the Hong Kong Federation of Women and vice president of the Hong Kong Girl Guides Association. She is the founding honorary advisor and board director of

The University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fir ...

Foundation for Educational Development and Research, court member of

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is a public research university located in Hung Hom, Hong Kong near Hung Hom station. The University is one of the eight government-funded degree-granting tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. Founded ...

and chairman of the development committee of

The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) (Chinese: 香港演藝學院) is a provider of tertiary education in Hong Kong. Located near the north coast of Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island, the main campus also functions as a venue for pe ...

. She was appointed Justice of the Peace by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2015. In China, she is a standing committee member of Beijing municipal committee of the

Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...

, standing committee member of

All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce The All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC; ) is a non-governmental chamber of commerce, established in 1953 as a successor to the chambers of commerce that were first founded during the Qing dynasty. Today, it consists of Chinese i ...

, and vice president of China Chamber of Tourism. Ho serves as chairwoman of the French Macao Business Association. In April 2009, she was named ''Chevalier de l'

Ordre national du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's estab ...

'' in a ceremony at the French consulate-general of Hong Kong. She is also a committee member of

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

– Peace & Development Foundation, executive committee member of

World Travel and Tourism Council The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is a forum for the travel and tourism industry. It is made up of members from the global business community and works with governments to raise awareness about the travel and tourism industry. It is know ...

and was appointed the first ambassador for the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

in China in 2013.

Personal life

Ho married Julian Hui, son of shipping magnate Hui Sai-fun, in 1991. They divorced in 2000. Late in their marriage, both began seeking other relationships; Ho entered into a relationship with Gilbert Yeung, the son of her father's hospitality and entertainment industry competitor,

Albert Yeung Albert Yeung (; born Yeung Sau Shing; 3 March 1943), is a Hong Kong businessman. He is the founder and chairman of Emperor Group. Early years Albert Yeung was born in Hong Kong in 1943 and traces his root to Teochew (Chaozhou), Guangdong, ...

. However, Gilbert Yeung's arrest for drug possession in August 2000 at Ho's birthday party focused unwanted media attention on Ho and her relationship with him; Ho's father also made comments in interviews threatening to disown her if she married him. This led to the end of Ho's relationship with Yeung, and also the public announcement that she and Hui would be seeking a divorce. Ho's ties to Chinese organised crime have also been reported by the

New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that was established in 1977 under the Casino Control Act, N.J.S.A. to ensure the integrity of the casino gaming industry, including spor ...

, citing a U.S. Senate committee and several government agencies, when the state investigated her ties to American casino operator

. Ho's father, Stanley Ho, was also named by the

Canadian Government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in ...

, citing the ''Manila Standard'' newspaper, as having a link to the Kung Lok Triad (Chinese mafia) and as being linked to "several illegal activities" during the period 1999–2002. In 2018, she spent HK$900 million on a property in one of Hong Kong's most exclusive neighbourhoods, The Peak, then Asia's second-highest price for a residential property. In Aug 2020, Ho lodged a caveat over her father’s estate at the Probate Registry in Hong Kong after her sister and cousin to register an interest in the handling of her father's will.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Pansy Living people 1962 births Hong Kong casino industry businesspeople Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite Hong Kong billionaires Hong Kong chief executives Hong Kong film actresses Castilleja School alumni Hong Kong people of Dutch-Jewish descent Hong Kong television actresses Hong Kong women in business Liberal Party (Hong Kong) politicians Female billionaires Santa Clara University alumni Macau emigrants to Hong Kong Hong Kong emigrants to Canada Canadian billionaires Canadian women chief executives Canadian people of Dutch-Jewish descent Naturalized citizens of Canada Ho family Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2021–2026