Stanley Ho’s sister Winnie dies aged 95

Winnie Ho

Winnie Ho, Hong Kong businesswoman and sister of Macau’s most famous casino tycoon, Stanley Ho, passed away earlier this year, though her death went unreported for almost two months.

Citing her spokeswoman, the South China Morning Post reported that Winnie Ho died at the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital and would be buried in the Chiu Yuen Cemetery on Mount Davis, in Hong Kong.

Winnie Ho, who died of illness in early June aged 95, was a controversial business figure who found herself embroiled in several legal cases against her brother in the 2000s.

She worked for her brother’s casino operator Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM), which held a gambling monopoly on the city for several decades.

In the 2000s, Winnie and Stanley fought for control over STDM, which resulted in her expulsion from the board in 2005. She sued the company the following year, seeking to reclaim HKD3 billion (USD382 million) in dividends owed to her.

The lawsuit, along with over 30 others which included claims for compensation and defamation, was ultimately unsuccessful. Winnie had refused to travel from Hong Kong where she resided to the MSAR, claiming that both she and her lawyers had received a number of threats.

Winnie was also involved in a separate legal dispute with her cousin and alleged lover, the late Eric Hotung. Hotung claimed that Winnie owed him over HKD2 million from an investment he made in Stanely Ho’s then-fledgling business in 1961.

Stanley Ho has rarely been seen in public in the past decade. Winnie Ho is survived by her four children.