Dubai prince’s family office shares space with casino firm
Government distances itself from questions about its knowledge of royal family member’s identity
The proposed Hong Kong site for a Dubai prince’s family office shares space with an investment firm that has close ties to Macau’s casino operators and where late billionaire Stanley Ho Hung-sun served as a director until his death in 2020, the Post has found.
After the last-minute postponement of the launch of 28-year-old Sheikh Ali Rashed Ali Saeed Al Maktoum’s family office, scheduled for yesterday, the government distanced itself from questions about its knowledge of the identity of the royal family member.
The prince had spoken at a high-level family office summit in Hong Kong a day earlier.
“We will not comment on individual business activities,” a government spokesman said. “We engage participants in the Wealth for Good in Hong Kong Summit through our global network and relevant stakeholders.”
The statement was released almost a week after the Post asked the Financial Services and Treasury Bureau questions about Al Maktoum.
The prince from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), reported to be the nephew of Dubai’s ruler and prime minister, made waves after he pledged a US$500 million investment earlier this month for a family office in Hong Kong and made high-profile appearances in the city in the past week.
Al Maktoum’s private discussions with Hong Kong officials and prominent business figures at the Grand Hyatt hotel summit on Wednesday afternoon was his last public appearance in the city.
His private office hours later told the Post that the family office’s opening would be rescheduled as “urgent matters in Dubai required the sheikh’s attention”.
An exclusive Post report on Wednesday said the consulate of the UAE had confirmed Al Maktoum was “from the ruling family” and “a sheikh” – an honorific title designating a royal family member.
Two people with knowledge of the country’s royal family said the prince was a “distant member”.
The unexpected postponement of the office launch sparked discussions in Hong Kong’s business circles yesterday, the Post heard.
Questions lingered about the reasons behind the rescheduling of the office launch and whether the prince would continue with his venture in Hong Kong.
Al Maktoum’s planned office is in the China Merchant Centre of Shun Tak Centre in Sheung Wan, sharing the 16th floor with several other companies.
A Post reporter visited the site for the planned office yesterday morning.
A portrait of the prince was placed on the wall next to the reception, and another section of wall carried a sign for “Positive Goal Investments Ltd”.
The Post understands that Macau casino king Ho served as a director of the investment firm until he died four years ago aged 98. Ho was a household name in Macau and known as the patriarch of Asia’s largest casino empire for half a century.
Positive Goal Investments is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands.
It had two directors last year – Ambrose So Shu-fai, a long-time, trusted lieutenant to Ho and a former executive director and CEO of SJM Holdings, and Lam Wei-ching.
The Hong Kong-listed company’s website says it owns four hotels and 13 casinos in prime locations in Macau.
So stepped down from the board last year, but is still a director of the company’s Macau concession-holding arm SJM Resorts.
He was also said to have been Portugal’s honorary consul in Hong Kong in the mid-1970s.
The Post contacted So and SJM for comment.
Joey Lim, the chief administrative officer of the family office, said it could not provide details of the prince’s schedule or his whereabouts.
“Hopefully we will get the announcement this afternoon or next week because there is a holiday coming up,” she added.
Other than Lim, none of Al Maktoum’s close aides in his private office were contactable, including Eleanor Jane Mak, and the vice-chairman and CEO, William Tien, the international strategic relations director.
Al Maktoum earlier announced the plan to open a family office in Hong Kong to look for investment opportunities in the Asian region in an interview with financial information and business news service Bloomberg, where he was said to be “the nephew” of the ruler and prime minister of the UAE.
But the relationship was later altered to “a relative” of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
But questions were raised by some about Ali Al Maktoum’s funding sources, how closely connected he was to the ruling family, and whether any business partnerships came with sovereign guarantees.
The Post asked the prince at a university event on Tuesday to confirm if he was the UAE prime minister’s nephew, as he had been described in some media.
“I am a member of the family,” he said. “I look up to him. I see him as my inspiration. I’m thankful for his leadership.”
We will not comment on individual business activities GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN