Lawrence Ho

Lawrence Ho (born 1976) is a Hong Kong businessman, CEO and chairman of Melco International.

Early life and education

Ho is the eldest son of the Hong Kong- and Macau-based businessman Stanley Ho and Lucina Laam King Ying.^[1]

Ho moved to Canada as a child and graduated from the University of Toronto with a BA degree in commerce in 1999.^[2] He was also awarded the Honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree by Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland in July 2009,^[3] affirming his contribution to society in Hong Kong, Macau and China.

Other activities and honors

Ho is a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference ^[4] and sits on a number of committees and boards of privately held companies in Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.

Ho was awarded “Best CEO in Hong Kong” by FinanceAsia from 2009 to 2012^[4] as well as “Asia’s Best CEO” at the Asian Excellence Awards by Corporate Governance Asia magazine in 2011.^[5] He was also selected as one of the “Ten Outstanding Young Persons 2006,” organised by the Junior Chamber International Hong Kong.^[4]

Career

Ho is the chairman^[6] and CEO ^[7] of Melco International Development Limited. He is also the Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Melco Crown Entertainment Limited.^[7]

In 2001, Ho took over the loss making company Melco International Development Limited. Melco has transformed and re-shuffled the business focus on to leisure and entertainment. Melco has developed its first casino hotel in Taipa, Macau (now known as Altira Macau, a Forbes 5-Star hotel), the acquisition of one of the only six Macau gaming concessionaires and sub-concessionaries, and forming a joint venture (now known as Melco Crown Entertainment) with the Australia billionaire, James Packer’s, Crown Limited (formerly Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd), for Asian gambling business opportunities. In 2006, Melco Crown Entertainmen was publicly listed on NASDAQ (ticker symbol: MPEL) and was the fourth-largest IPO in the US and the then largest ever NASDAQ IPO for an Asian company.^[8]

In 2009, Melco opened its casino resort City of Dreams Macau, and is developing the cinematically-themed Studio City, to be opened in 2015. Melco is also building City of Dreams Manila.

Melco has signed an investment deal with the Primorye Territory Government to develop the first casino resort in the Primorye Integrated Entertainment Zone near Vladivostok,Russia.^[6] Expected to commence operation in September 2014, the resort will have about 119 hotel rooms, 800 slot machines, and 65 gaming tables. ^[9] In October 2013, Ho was invited as one of the guest speakers, in the plenary session of the VTB Capital's fifth annual "Russia Calling!" Investment Forum in Moscow.

As of December 2014, Ho has an estimated net worth of $3 billion.^[10]

Personal life

Ho is married to Sharen Lo Shau Yan, granddaughter of the founder of beverage maker Vitasoy, Kwee Seong Lo.^[11]

References