Billionaire Baha Mar buyer Henry Cheng joins Forbes Hong Kong’s 50 Richest for 2018

Succeeding his late father Cheng Yu-tung at the head of the Chow Tai Fook/New World empire, Henry Cheng has expanded the family’s role in casinos beyond Macau into Vietnam, Australia and the Bahamas while becoming a billionaire in his own right.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a blogger for Forbes, editor at large for Inside Asian Gaming and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.

Korea casino resort opens amid Chinese boycott

North Korea’s aggressive missile testing and nuclear ambitions casts a shadow over the opening of US$1.1 billion Paradise City outside Seoul. South Korea’s deployment of the US THAAD missile defense system in response has led to a boycott by Chinese tour groups, the resort’s target market.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a blogger for Forbes and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.

Baha Mar founder gambled and lost casino

Sarkis Izmirilian conceived an integrated resort on Cable Beach with then and future Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie in the early years of this century. When global credit froze in 2008, a deal with China saved US$3.5 billion Baha Mar but doomed Izmirlian, whose gamble on bankruptcy cost him his $850 million investment in the largest hospitality project in the Caribbean. Baha Mar is due to begin opening next month, under ownership of Hong Kong’s Chow Tai Fook Enterprises.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a blogger for Forbes, editor at large for Inside Asian Gaming and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.

China holds cards in Bahamas’ largest casino project

The stalled US$3.5 billion Baha Mar casino resort has a Chinese suitor after Beijing money pushed the original owner out.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a blogger for Forbes, editor at large for Inside Asian Gaming and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.

Bahamas casino flounders with China’s help

China hopes to combine huge currency reserves and burgeoning overseas travel to extend its global soft power. The Bahamas’ $3.5 billion Baha Mar casino project shows the dangers of having Beijing for a partner for commercial projects.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a blogger for Forbes and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.