Forbes billionaire rank: no. Net worth: $20.1 billion. Position: Chairman of Galaxy Entertainment Group and K. Base: Hong Kong. 89-year old Lui, originally from Jiangmen, China, first entered the business world as a teenager by selling peanuts during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in World War II. Galaxy Rio Macau is a large hotel casino resort that sits on the Cotai Strip in Macau. It has been around for four years, but it has already gained a good reputation because it has a lot to offer. Hong Kong’s richest woman, coming in at No. 9 on our 2014 Forbes Hong Kong Rich List, is also the world’s richest female casino tycoon. Most of her wealth comes from MGM China, a joint venture with MGM Resorts that went public in 2011. No.5 Kunio Busujima, $5.2 billion With family, ranked No. 5 on the latest Forbes Japan Rich List. Galaxy plans to invest another $50 to $60 billion Hong Kong dollars ($6.4 to $7.7 billion) in Phases 3 and 4 of Galaxy Macau's expansion. Phase 2, which is slated for completion in mid-2015, will.

No.1 Sheldon Adelson, $39 billion

Macau’s boom has helped the bottom line and fortune of the chairman of Las Vegas Sands through a successful Venetian Macau in the former Portuguese colony and 75% jump in the Hong Kong-traded shares of his Macau operation, Sands China. The stock price of his flagship Las Vegas Sands is up by more than half in the past year.

No.2 Lui Che Woo, $21 billion

Shares of Lui’s Galaxy Entertainment have soared in the past year, lifting the 84-year-old to the No. 2 spot on the 2014 Hong Kong Rich List, trailing only perennial No.1 Li Ka-shing at $32 billion. Lui holds the biggest piece of land of the six operations on Macau’s Cotai Strip. Son Francis is heir apparent.

No.3 James Packer, $6 billion

Packer leads Crown, which runs casinos in Australia and a joint venture Melco Crown in Macau with No. 7 on this list, Lawrence Ho. Melco Crown’s shares have more than doubled in the past year.

No.4 Pansy Ho, $6.8 billion

Hong Kong’s richest woman, coming in at No. 9 on our 2014 Forbes Hong Kong Rich List, is also the world’s richest female casino tycoon. Most of her wealth comes from MGM China, a joint venture with MGM Resorts that went public in 2011.

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No.5 Kunio Busujima, $5.2 billion

With family, ranked No. 5 on the latest Forbes Japan Rich List. He is the honorary chairman of pachinko gaming-machine maker Daichi Sankyo. The company’s shares are up by nearly half in the past year.

No.6 Kirk Kerkorian, $3.9 billion

Hotel mogul that ranked No. 118 on the Forbes 400 list for the U.S. in September makes the list through a stake in MGM International Resorts. MGM’s reaches into Macau through a partnership with Hong Kong’s richest woman, Pansy Ho.

No.7 Lawrence Ho, $3.4 billion

Son of Macau gaming industry legend Stanley Ho debuted on the 2014 Forbes Hong Kong Rich List at No. 12 after a big rise in the share price of Melco International, his main holding company. Melco International invests in Melco Crown Entertainment, a joint venture with James Packer that boasts casino projects in Macau and Manila.

No.8 Steven Wynn, $2.9 billion

Ranked No. 184 on the Forbes 400 list in the U.S. in September. Raking it in Macau, via Wynn Macau, a Hong Kong-listed subsidiary whose shares have climbed by two-thirds in the past year. Wynn’s Macau’s complex includes more than 1,000 hotel rooms; vice chairman is Allan Zeman, founder of the popular Hong Kong party district Lan Kwai Fong.

No.9 Angela Leong, $2.85 billion

The “fourth wife” of Stanley Ho ranked No. 19 on the 2014 Forbes Hong Kong Rich list on her holding SJM Holdings, which operates 18 casinos in Macau. The former dance instructor was elected to a third term in Macau’s legislature in September.

No. 10 Phillip Ruffin, $2.2 billion

Las Vegas-based Ruffin runs an empire that includes the Treasure Island Resort & Casino and greyhound race tracks.
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Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., one Macau’s biggest casino operators, reported its profit dropped 7% in the first half of the year as the world’s richest gambling hub continues its efforts at a recovery after a national crackdown on corruption scared away high-rollers.

The company posted profits of HK$6.7 billion ($850 million) in the first six months on revenue of HK$26.2 billion, according to the group’s financial report filed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

Galaxy’s gross gambling revenue, including from its affiliate City Clubs, was $30.6 billion, down 11% year-on-year, dragged by a plunge in its business catering to the wealthy. The group’s total takings from these kinds of gamblers tumbled 25% to $14.8 billion, while the revenue of its mass market segment — which is mostly made up of casual gamblers and families — rose 8% to $14.6 billion, according to the financial report.

The company’s performance is in line with the overall market in Macau, which saw gross gambling revenue fall 0.5% in the first half of this year, according to data released by the local government.

Spending by high-rollers in the special administrative region dropped 14.5% in the first six months, while mass market revenue rose 17.3%, according to a report released by Hong Kong-based brokerage Guotai Junan Securities Co. Ltd.

Macau’s gambling sector has had to reorient itself toward the mass market ever since the corruption campaign — which kicked off after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party in 2012 — brought capital restrictions and other measures to combat corruption.

In 2014, 2015 and 2016, Macau’s gambling revenue declined 2.6%, 34.3% and 3.3%, respectively. The industry’s revenue grew 19% in 2017 and 14% in 2018, though that year’s revenue was still less than what it was in 2013.

Francis Lui, Galaxy’s deputy chairman, said the group will continue taking steps to develop its mass market business, with the group’s future projects targeting casual gamblers and non-gambling businesses such as luxury hotels, restaurants and major conferences.

Though trade tensions might dampen spending, the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge — which connects the two special administrative regions and Guangdong province — and the continuous growth in mainland affluence, will boost Macau’s development, said Galaxy Entertainment Chairman Lui Che-woo. Lui is the city’s third-richest man with a fortune of 19 billion yuan ($2.7 billion) in 2018, according to Forbes.

Galaxy is one of Macau’s six casino license holders and runs three casinos in the city, including Galaxy Macau, Broadway Macau and StarWorld Macau.

Contact reporter Tang Ziyi (ziyitang@caixin.com)

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