Lawrence Ho stands at a crossroads in his life and at a crossroads in the development of Melco International, the company he now controls after his father Stanley Ho stepped down as chairman.
Melco's access to Macau's last gaming sub-concession (until at least 2009) thanks to its partnership with the Australian company Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd, gives Lawrence Ho the chance to move out from under his father's shadow once and for all and to build his own gambling empire. The question is, could it be at the expense of his family's hard-won casino business rather than alongside it?
Lawrence, an energetic and optimistic 28 year old, is seen by some as the great modernizer, the man who wants to move gaming from the smoky halls of yesteryear (an environment he once reportedly described as "crappy") to a bright mass market future filled, even if not totally dominated, by slots.
The arrival of US operators in Macau has shaken up the local gaming market and internationalized it. If anyone is in a position to take advantage of this, suggest some observers, it is Lawrence Ho - the archetypal child of globalization - a Canadian-educated 'great communicator' and enthusiast, equally at home sharing a boardroom joke in English with expatriate bankers (he worked for Jardine Fleming and Citibank after graduation), as he is in sensing the needs of his Chinese customers.
It's possible Melco could be the dry run for running the whole empire, although there are clear regulatory and corporate governance reasons why the vehicle for doing that may not be via the father's umbrella company Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM) or even its offshoot Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM).
Many sneer that Lawrence wouldn't be where he is today were it not for his father. Melco was a ready made vehicle, starting life as the Macau Electric Lighting Company Ltd, and had been on the Hong Kong Stock Market since 1927. That shouldn't, however, blind people from giving credit where credit is due. Although he is not yet 30, Lawrence has a strategic alliance with the biggest private gaming operator in Australia and Melco is now the biggest slot operator in Macau with 1,000 machines, each one swallowing around HK$ 2,000 per day - more than twice the average daily revenues (amounting to HK$ 936 per machine) produced in Las Vegas.
His ambition does not stop there. He is on the way to creating a mega entertainment resort City of Dreams, aimed at transforming Macau into "Asia's entertainment gaming centre" despite recent spats about whether its famous underwater casino will be one dream too far.
Lawrence is the scion of a large family, with the branches rather resembling the complex structure of the Ho business empire itself. Although Ho 'Pere' has 17 children, the most serious contenders for the succession are Lawrence and Pansy - both the product of his second marriage. The other siblings from that marriage are Daisy, Maisy and Josie. Lawrence is the eldest surviving son. His half brother by Ho Senior's first wife, Clementina Leitao, died in a car accident in Portugal in 1981.
While his sister Pansy, managing director of Shun Tak Holdings, has proven that portion of the family business is safe in her hands, Lawrence is also a clear candidate for a controlling role in the empire.
And in terms of any succession, Stanley has so far carefully balanced his "support" for both his son and his daughter.
Lawrence Ho was educated in Canada, graduating from Toronto University with a BA in Commerce. He returned to Hong Kong in 1999. He worked in banking first, before joining Asia, an online stock-trading platform provider controlled by his father.
His entry into Melco was achieved through purchase of 12.6 per cent of its stock from his sisters, Pansy and Daisy.
The turning point of his career arrived in 2004 when he spotted a gap in the gaming market and struck a deal with SJM to operate slot machines under the SJM license. The slot venture proved a phenomenal success, generating enough revenue to turn loss-making Melco into profit.
While most of the Macao concept stocks slumped spectacularly within a short time, Melco was one of the few companies that survived the bubble burst. The recent sub concession deal boosts Melco shares to a record high of HK$ 14.75, driving its market capitalization to well over HK$ 16 billion.
While his business acumen may be directly attributable to the good genes of his father, his private life is markedly less colorful.
Lawrence Ho cultivates an image of a family man, a far cry from his father's playboy persona or even his sister, Pansy, who is often described as a party girl by the Hong Kong media.
He is married to Sharen Lo, the granddaughter of the founder of Vitasoy, the Hong Kong-based beverage manufacturer. He described his marriage as the "most rewarding and most unregretful gamble" ever made in his 28 year life.
He told Macau Business in a recent interview (October 2005 P12) that there are people who have discounted him as a successful businessman since the beginning because his family is too rich for him to concentrate on his work. "I like to prove people wrong," he said defiantly.
However, the decision to pay a premium for the last casino license and withdraw the Melco/PBL joint venture from under the umbrella of SJM has courted criticism from Stanley Ho's traditional allies who are undoubtedly vying for a piece of the action as well.
An SJM insider tells Macau Business that the octogenarian billionaire often went out of his way to help his children and that this upset some of his allies.
He said that the subconcession deal with MGM went ahead without the support of the senior executives at SJM and he also single-handedly approved the deal to pay Wynn US$ 900 million for the final gaming license available in Macau's current round of development.
The source also says that some senior executives at SJM view the Melco/PBL and Pansy Ho/MGM joint ventures as threats to SJM's market dominance.
In an interview with the Australian Financial Review in January, Lawrence Ho appeared to preempt the criticism. He said that having an international gaming operator as a partner was the way to help SJM compete with the American newcomers. "If you ask any monopolist to switch into a natural competition or all-out competitive environment, then it's typically very hard," Ho Junior was quoted as saying.
"Listening to their strategies, I thought the traditional way of doing things would not work in Macau anymore," he added. So far Lawrence Ho has enjoyed proving other people wrong. Now he will have to prove that he is right.
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This just keeps getting weirder and weirder. My favorite parts our 28 year old CEO had to buy his way into MELCO by buying shares from his sisters! And " Party
Girl " Pansy she's obviously my favorite player in this whole mess. Lawrence went ahead and bought the WYNN license with his father's money but without telling dear old dad's company and now in effect is going to be a competitor! WOW! And not one mention of the old man's crazy sister suing everyone. This is going to get ugly. Before then I think we're all going to make some money! These Ho's are rich as hell! If they have to they will put their own money into this project. It's a VANITY CASINO it has to work out! Family rep is on the line. I can't wait for the son to power through the underwater casino that is going to be dope! And man that is going to shake their little empire financially... Got to hitch a ride with the Ho's here, unless father and son kill each other...the crazy Ho's this is epic stuff- The reverse merger into the age old lighting comnpany. Snap I've been listed on the Hong Kong since 1929 just like that! Folks I just wished I lived in Macau it sounds great- much better than Vegas......