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Sheldon Adelson, World’s Wealthiest Casino Magnate Dies Aged 87
By Jeff Osienya Jan 13, 2021 IndustryLas Vegas Sands founder and CEO, Sheldon Adelson passes on after ailing from a rare type of cancer diagnosed in 2019. He was a force to be reckoned with in the casino sector and was recognized as a Kingmaker in Republican politics.American billionaire Sheldon Adelson, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp, the largest casino company in the world, has died at the age of 87 at his home in Malibu, California.
According to a statement published by his company, Las Vegas Sands on Tuesday, Adelson succumbed to complications resulting from treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) – a rare cancer of the lymphatic system where tumors develop from lymphocytes, on Monday night. The casino mogul had stepped down from his chair and CEO role of the company last week to resume his NHL cancer treatments, a condition that he had first made public in 2019.
Through Adelson’s shrewd leadership, the Las Vegas Sands became the first adopter of the integrated resort model, a combination of casino gaming spaces, luxury hotels, and convention centers. This terrific concept is one of the innovative ideas that made a killing for him in the casino business, driving his wealth to enormous scales making him climb to the third richest person according to Forbes between 2007 and 2008 with a net worth of more than $26 billion. Owing to the game-changing integrated resort approach, the concept is now a mainstay in the Las Vegas Strip and Macau, two of the biggest gambling centers in the world.
A Classic American Tale of Rags to Riches
At the time of his death, Adelson’s net worth stood at $33.4 billion, ranking as the 38th richest person on earth per Forbes’ Billionaires List and the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Against all odds, Adelson broke off the cycle of poverty he was born in from an early age, a grass to grace story that he often referenced in his lifetime.
He was born on 4th August 1933, in Boston, Massachusetts in a poor Jewish immigrant family. His father, Arthur Adelson was of Ukrainian and Lithuanian descent and was a taxi driver by profession, and his mother Sarah was an English immigrant who owned a knitting shop. His journey as a business person started when he was only 12, selling newspapers on Boston street corners and by the age of 16, he had made his first investment in candy machines.
Along the way after dropping out of City College of New York and coming back from a tour of duty in the Army, Adelson tried different businesses including mortgage brokerage, selling condos, magazine ads, and even tried venture capitalism. His first stroke of fortune however came in the late 70s when he and his four partners launched a computer trade show in Las Vegas known as Comdex. He later sold his stake in the business for close to $900 million in 1995, racking up returns worth over $500 million from the sale.
The Making of a Casino Caesar
All the while, Adelson had bought the Sands Hotel and Casino in 1989 for $128 million alongside other partners and launched his first integrated resort by building a convention hall to boost his hotel room occupancy over the weekend and complement the casino that was also running in the venue. In 1999 his success with the Las Vegas Sands paved way for the $1.5 billion Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, a venue that he modeled after his Honeymoon trip with his second wife nearly a decade prior in 1991.
By 2003, the Venetian boasted of a massive casino floor that could accommodate two football fields with a monstrous accommodation capacity of 8,000 rooms and suites. This investment is what slingshot his wealth to the heights of a multibillionaire after getting the company publicly listed. He spread his genius to Macau by reclaiming land to create the Cotai Peninsula and later expanded his foothold in the region with the $2.4 billion Venetian Macao project in 2007.
The Venetian Macau is hyped as the seventh-largest building in the world, spanning across a 39-story hotel and a vast gaming floor that could fit more than 9 football fields. Adelson’s Macau revenue quickly outshone that of the Vegas Strip and this further grew his wealth exponentially. Over the years, he also built other casino resorts to strengthen his dominance in Macau and Sin City and further expanded his empire in Singapore, back at home in Pennsylvania. He was also looking to tap into Japan’s unexploited gambling market although his company dropped the idea last year to drive more resources into already existing businesses.
Aside from casino interest, the tycoon also owned real estate, major conservative media outlets locally and abroad including the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the biggest newspaper in Nevada.
Philanthropist, Activist, and King Maker
Apart from his shining legacy in the casino sector and the larger global business industry, the late billionaire was also hailed as a generous philanthropist. Together with his wife, Adelson donated hundreds of millions of dollars into education, medical research and many other humanitarians causes locally in America and internationally. He was also a known fighter against anti-Semitism.
In American politics, Adelson has been the biggest single donor of Republican presidential campaigns donating tons of money, most significantly $25 million to Trump’s presidential bid in 2016 and most recently $75 million to his reelection effort. He was also a supporter of President George W. Bush and spent a lot of his money in campaigns against Obama. Internationally, he was a strong supporter of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Indeed, Sheldon Adelson will be remembered by many as one of the most influential figures in modern history. Part of the official statement of Las Vegas Sands upon its founder’s death reads as follows;
Quote“In Las Vegas, Macao and Singapore, Mr Adelson’s vision for integrated resorts transformed the industry, changed the trajectory of the company he founded, and reimagined tourism in each of those markets. Mr. Adelson was the first employee of Las Vegas Sands – "Team Member Number One" he liked to say. Today, more than 50,000 Sands team members have Dr. Adelson and the entire Adelson family in their thoughts and prayers and are grateful to have had their lives touched by a true force of nature.
While his business credentials – having started or been involved in more than 50 different enterprises – are unquestioned, his dedication to philanthropy and commitment to his family will truly be his legacy. He will be missed by people from all parts of the world who were touched by his generosity, kindness, intellect and wonderful sense of humor.”
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