Stanley Ho begins battle with family over gambling assets

Stanley Ho has been one of the sharpest and well-respected casino gambling minds in the history of the industry, but lately he has been dealing with failing health. On Monday it was revealed that Ho had transferred control of his empire to his family.

By Tuesday, lawyers who claim to be representing the casino mogul had fired back. The row involves the division of assets in the casino empire the billionaire had built up over four decades. Ho, according to lawyers said to represent him, said certain family members have attempted to grab control of his casino empire against his wishes.

Lawyers at Oldham, Li & Nie have reportedly written letters to Ho's third wife, and his second wife's family, contesting the division of the assets. The lawyers did not have kind words for the recipients of the fortune. "It would appear the assets at Lanceford have been hijacked by members of the second and third family insofar as shares were issued to the effect to dilute Stanley to nothing," said Gordon Oldham, a partner in the law firm. It now appears the issue may be headed to the courts.

They added Ho wants his share holdings to go into a trust for the families of his four wives in equal shares. Newswires reports, citing lawyers, said Ho was considering legal action to retain control of the casino group, adding that he was upset by family infighting and the grabs made by families of some of his wives.

SJM Holdings is the big prize in the asset acquisition, but last year Ho gave a stake to his fourth wife to ensure she would continue to manage the day to day operations of the company. The other 32% was what was supposed to have been split up Monday when SJM informed the Hong Kong stock exchange of the changes.

SJM has been in a holding pattern, and investors are concerned that no matter who runs the company, SJM is not as stable as it was when Ho was overseeing the operations. The stock dropped slightly on Monday after word of the share changes leaked. With uncertainty brewing, the stock could be headed for more tough days ahead.

Ho built his empire by controlling a monopoly in Macau on casino gambling. When Macau decided to open up the industry to outside companies, Las Vegas powerhouse companies MGM Mirage, Las Vegas Sands, and Wynn Resorts pounced on the opportunity to enter the market. In the past decade, Macau has overtaken Las Vegas as the casino gambling capital of the world.