A day after Macau billionaire Stanley Ho said the dispute over his stake in his casino empire was settled, his lawyer filed a suit accusing family members of illegally taking control of his assets, according to news reports.
Ho had appeared on television saying that the matter had been resolved and that he no longer needed the services of attorney Gordon Oldham, but “the lawyer says he still represents the tycoon and the writ appears to carry Ho’s signature,”
Bloomberg reported.
According to the
New York Times,
this latest development
raised the prospect of a complex and potentially drawn-out legal battle over Mr. Ho’s legacy, and reinforced a sense that Mr. Ho, who is 89 years old, is confused and liable to be pulled in different directions by many members of his family.
The number of people involved, and the amount of money at stake —
Forbes
earlier this month estimated Mr. Ho’s fortune at $3.1 billion — is likely to ensure the saga will continue, many observers believe.
The original transaction transferred control of Ho’s 31.7% stake of the casino business to two companies to two branches of his family. The lawsuit accused family members of illegally taking control of the shares. “Mr. Ho has 17 children by four women, and the contested share transaction benefits what he has referred to as his second and third families,” the
Times
reported.
The
Times
article cited an e-mail from Oldham saying Ho had been “pressurized” into making the statement on TV.
The Bloomberg report noted:
This isn’t the first conflict within the Ho family that’s played out in public. Stanley Ho’s sister Winnie Ho lost an appeal in 2008, when she sought to block [his company’s] initial public offering saying she was owed $386 million in dividends. IN 2001, Stanley Ho threatened to disinherit daughter Pansy when she dated the son of a business rival.
(Sources: Bloomberg, Jan 27, 2011;
New York Times,
Jan. 27, 2011.)
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