Hong Kong movie star Stephen Chow earned his fame as the “king of comedy” through a string of blockbuster hits beginning in the late 1980s, but his business ventures have failed to parallel his box-office success and have led to hundreds of millions in losses in the past decade.

Chow, who moved from acting to directing in recent years, returned to the spotlight when his ex-girlfriend, Alice Yu, sued him for HK$80 million (US$10.3 million) in investment commissions. The High Court on Wednesday ruled in favor of the “Shaolin Soccer” star, rejecting his former lover’s case and ordering her to pay litigation fees.

The HK$80 million commission was said to include his real estate investments profits from luxurious houses at The Peak and in Tai Po.

Although Chow’s movies have remained commercial hits, the comedy king has been struggling to maintain the business empire he aspired to build in the 1990s.

Bingo Group, Chow’s flagship movie production and investment company, has accumulated a loss of close to HK$600 million since it was acquired by the comedian a decade ago.

Last year, Bingo announced that it would consolidate every four shares into one when its share prices fell close to the minimum 1 Hong Kong cent. After the consolidation, Bingo prices rose briefly before dropping to around 4.8 Hong Kong cents this year as its market capitalization shrank to HK$40 million.

Chow showed an interest in real estate as early as 1990. Soon after reaping a fortune from his first box-office hit, “All for the Winner,” he started investing in the property market with the guidance of Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau.

In 2005, he made his first attempt to list his production company but failed to get approval from Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, which stated that Chow’s company did not have a clear business focus and relied too much on the comedian’s fame. Two further listing attempts were also rejected.

The setbacks did not stop Chow’s listing ambitions. In 2010, he purchased an amount of convertible bonds that turned him into the majority shareholder of the Hong Kong-listed Emcom International, which was renamed to Bingo Group.

Bingo has since produced three movies: “CJ7: The Cartoon,” “Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons” and “The Mermaid.”

Aside from recording a HK$12.96 million profit in 2013, Bingo has posted losses for the past decade. Bingo’s share price peaked in 2014 at 50 Hong Kong cents but soon fell and has since hovered below 10 cents.

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