Lui Che Woo, casino tycoon who hit jackpot in Macau, dies at 95

Mr Lui Che Woo, the Hong Kong tycoon whose fortune grew alongside neighbouring Macau's casino industry, has died. He was 95.

He died on Nov 7, according to a statement released by Galaxy Entertainment Group, where he was founder and chairman.

Mr Lui had an estimated net worth of US$14.5 billion (S$19.4 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, making him one of the richest people in Hong Kong.

He built his empire in what became the world's biggest gambling hub from scratch, competing with industry veterans including Mr Steve Wynn and Mr Sheldon Adelson. He won a gaming licence in 2002 when the former Portuguese colony's government ended a 40-year monopoly held by Mr Stanley Ho, the so-called King of Gambling, who died in 2020.

Mr Lui started his first resort, StarWorld Macau, in 2006 before opening the Galaxy Macau in the Cotai area, Asia's version of the Las Vegas Strip, in 2011. "Don't just think, 'Oh, he's got so rich!' You don't know how many obstacles he's had to go through," Mr Lui said in an interview that year with Hong Kong's Phoenix Television.

Mr Lui was born on Aug 9, 1929, in the city of Jiangmen in China's Guangdong province, just north of Hong Kong. In 1934, the family crossed into the then British colony to flee the war-torn mainland.

Relatively well off at the time, the family lost its fortune after the Japanese military invaded Hong Kong in 1941.