The Four Families of Stanley Ho

It’s Monday, which means that Stanley Ho either is or isn’t suing the wife and children who tried to wrest control of his financial empire last week. (Or he’s still telling each side what it wants to hear.) The tug of war has put the enfeebled casino magnate back in the hospital, while an unidentified third party tries to broker an arrangement in which each of Ho’s four families gets an equal stake. In a scene reminiscent of a Communist “show trial,” a bib-wearing Ho gave a videotaped recantation of last week’s recantation/reconciliation with third wife/concubine Ina Chan and the children of second wife/mistress Lucina Laam. Confused yet?

The emergence of MGM Grand Paradise Managing Director Pansy Ho as the face of the controversy isn’t going to do her American business partner any favors, as it’s tried to downplay her ties with Dear Old Dad in the past. Yet, she’s front and center in the power grab, throwing unwanted light on a potentially collusive arrangement whereby MGM’s leading lady and Melco Crown International‘s CEO, Lawrence Ho, could hold nearly 20% of Ho’s Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (parent of Sociedade de Jogos de Macau) between them. Other casino operators in Macao have to be watching that with some trepidation. The controversy also serves as an advance warning of the economic realignment that could follow as a series of power-hoarding Chinese oligarchs enter their dotage, with consequences as yet unforeseen. One hint: The SJM controversy has cost the casino firm $1 billion in diminished market capitalization.