In 2001, Ho took over the loss making company Melco International Development Limited. Melco has transformed and re-shuffled the Business focus on to leisure and entertainment. Melco has developed its first casino hotel in Taipa, Macau (now known as Altira Macau, a Forbes 5-Star hotel), the acquisition of one of the only six Macau Gaming concessionaires and sub-concessionaries, and forming a joint venture (now known as Melco Crown Entertainment) with the Australia Billionaire, James Packer’s, Crown Limited (formerly Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd), for Asian gambling Business opportunities. In 2006, Melco Crown Entertainment was publicly listed on NASDAQ (ticker symbol: MPEL) and was the fourth-largest IPO in the US and the then largest ever NASDAQ IPO for an Asian company.
Institutional Investor honored him as the “Best CEO” in 2005. He also received the “5th China Enterprise Award for Creative Businessmen” by the China Marketing Association and China Enterprise News, “Leader of Tomorrow” by Hong Kong Tatler and the “Directors of the Year Award” by the Hong Kong Institute of Directors in 2005.
Ho is married to Sharen Lo Shau Yan, granddaughter of the founder of beverage maker Vitasoy, Kwee Seong Lo. They have one daughter, born in September 2006.
Ho is the chairman and CEO of Melco International Development Limited and Melco Crown Entertainment. Ho is the chairman and a non-executive Director of Summit Ascent Holdings Limited, a company listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange, since 2013.
In 2014, Ho was selected by FinanceAsia magazine as one of the “Best CEOs in Hong Kong” for the fifth time, and was honored as one of the recipients of the Asian Corporate Director Recognition Awards for three consecutive years. He was also awarded “Asia’s Best CEO” at the Asian Excellence Awards by Corporate Governance Asia magazine for the fourth time in 2015.
Melco also holds interest in Tigre de Cristal, a gambling and resort development project located in the Primorye Integrated Entertainment Zone in Vladivostok, Russia, which was successfully opened on 11 November 2015.
In May 2016, Melco became the single largest shareholder of Melco Crown Entertainment, further bolstering the group’s financial position through incorporation of the accounting subsidiary’s full financial contributions. Ho was re-designated as chairman, and will continue to be the CEO of Melco Crown Entertainment.
As of January 2017, Ho has an estimated net worth of US$1.47 billion.
Ho is a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. and serves on numerous boards and committees of privately held companies in Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.
