Macau casino heiress pays HK$900 million for Peak mansion in Asia’s second-costliest property

Pansy Ho Chiu-king, a daughter and heiress of Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho, is believed to have bought the second-most expensive home in Asia, splashing out HK$900 million (US$115 million) on a mansion in one of Hong Kong’s most exclusive addresses.

Ho is the eldest of five children between Stanley Ho and his second wife Lam King Yin.

She is also the executive chairman and managing director of Shun Tak Holdings, the listed property, transport, hospitality and investment conglomerate founded by her father.

The recent recovery in Macau’s casino sector has boosted the fortunes of the 55-year-old billionaire. Ho, who has a major shareholding in MGM China, ranks No 16 on the Forbes list of Hong Kong’s 50 richest people, with an estimated fortune of US$4.8 billion. She ranks as the second richest woman in Hong Kong, trailing Kingston Financial Group’s Pollyanna Chu Yuet Wah, with a net worth of US$12 billion, according to Forbes.

Ho been managing director of Shun Tak Holdings since 1999. Aside from property development and hotels, the company operates the TurboJET ferry service between Hong Kong and Macau.

Ho started out as an actress briefly during the 1980s, appearing in a TVB series called Breakthrough. She married Julian Hui in 1991, the son of shipping and property tycoon Hui Sai Fun. The couple divorced in 2000.

Smart Richest International, a holding company that lists two of the younger Ho’s senior employees as directors, is the owner of House 3 at 28 Gough Hill Road on The Peak, according to Land Registry data released on Thursday.

The two directors of Smart Richest, Jeny Lau and Yuen Kin-kei, are both directors at Shun Tak Holdings, the ferry and helicopter service operator of which Pansy Ho is chairman and executive director. Both Lau and Yuen declined to comment when contacted by the South China Morning Post.