Melco Resorts & Entertainment Chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho was a notable absentee from Forbes Asia’s Hong Kong 50 Rich List in 2024, failing to make the cut for the first time in a decade.
Releasing its Hong Kong 50 Rich List on Thursday, Forbes attributed Ho’s absence – one of three moguls to exit the list this year – to a “broader industry sell-off”, having ranked 46th last year with a fortune of US$1.4 billion.
However, four Macau gaming industry figures still made the list, headed by Chow Tai Fook chairman Henry Cheng, who came in at No 3 with a fortune of US$22.1 billion. Cheng’s gaming interests include a long-standing 10% stake in SJM Holdings parent STDM, 5% of Australia’s Star Entertainment Group, and a 25% share of the soon-to-open Queen’s Wharf Brisbane integrated resort, as well as management of the Baha Mar IR in the Bahamas.
Coming in at No 7 on the Forbes Asia 2024 Hong Kong 50 Rich List is Galaxy Entertainment Group chairman Lui Che Woo, whose fortune has risen from US$12.1 billion to US$12.4 billion over the past 12 months.
MGM China’s Pansy Ho ranks 22nd with a US$3.9 billion fortune while Angela Leong, the fourth wife of Macau gaming tycoon Stanley Ho and current Co-Chairman and Executive Director of SJM Holdings, ranks 33rd with a US$2.4 billion fortune.
Forbes said the combined wealth of tycoons on its 2024 Hong Kong’s 50 Richest list fell from $324 billion last year to US$296 billion due to a sluggish IPO market and a stagnant property sector.
Li Ka-shing retained top spot with a net worth of US$36.2 billion, down from US$39 billion a year ago.
