Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho hospitalized

Casino mogul Stanley Ho, the father of Macau's fabled gambling industry, has been hospitalized and had surgery in Hong Kong, his office said Tuesday.

The brief statement did not say what surgical procedure the 87-year-old billionaire underwent.

"He is in satisfactory condition and is progressing well in recovery," the statement said.

The confirmation of Ho's hospitalization came after Hong Kong media reported Tuesday different medical reasons for his stay at Hong Kong Adventist Hospital.

Pictures from Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper showed a stream of Ho's family members, including daughter Pansy and son Lawrence, visiting the hospital Monday. None of them commented on Ho's health.

Ming Pao Daily cited Angela Leong, one of the four women Ho calls his "wives," as saying last week that he needed treatment because of a rectal injury that he suffered two years ago following a procedure to relieve constipation.

Apple Daily newspaper, meanwhile, cited an unidentified source as saying that Ho had fallen and hit his head last week at Leong's home and that he required brain surgery. The report said he is in stable condition in Adventist Hospital's intensive care unit.

Leong did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press seeking comment. The hospital also declined comment.

Uncertainty over Ho's health sent shares of his company Sociedade de Jogos de Macau Holdings, or SJM, 4.5 percent lower at HK$3.15 on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Ho, worth more than $9 billion according to Forbes, presided over Macau's casinos for four decades until his monopoly was broken up in 2002.

Since then, he has faced fierce competition from American operators such as Wynn Resorts Ltd. and Las Vegas Sands Corp., but SJM still leads with nearly 30 percent of the local gambling market.

Macau is the only place in China where casinos are legal.


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