Sheldon G Adelson
The Man With The Golden Gut
By Donn Richard
Singapore
Being America’s 3rd richest man, and earning a whopping $1 million an hour, Sheldon has all the reasons in the world to be content - and we mean VERY content!
Mr. Adelson has a net worth estimated at $20.5 billion. His fortune increased in 2004 by 750% when his company started trading publicly.
Life wasn’t always full of roses for Sheldon. From a humble existence, growing up in extremely poor circumstances as the son of a Boston cabdriver, to pursuing “the American dream? and becoming a multi billionaire.
As a kid he shared a tiny one-room apartment with his immigrant parents and three siblings. He dropped out of City of College New York in the 1940’s to learn the art of court reporting.
At the age of 12, he started selling newspapers by borrowing $200 from his uncle. He then saw a business opportunity in trade shows in the late 70’s. He formed a company called Comdex, renting space for trade shows and leasing it to exhibitors for triple the amount. He sold Comdex in 1995 to Japan’s Softbank for an unprecedented $860 Million.
He has been President and Chairman of Interface Group Holding Company, Inc. since the mid-1970s and Chairman of its affiliate, Interface Group-Massachusetts, LLC and its predecessors, since 1990.
73 years old Mr. Adelson is the principal owner of the Venetian hotel & Casino. He has been Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, Treasurer and a director of the Company since August 2004. He has been Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Las Vegas Sands, LLC since April 1988.
In 1988 Sheldon decided to start an exhibition and convention center and get into the casino & hotel business in Las Vegas. He started Las Vegas Sands Inc. to purchase the old Sands casino for $128 million.
Over the first 7 years, his company running the Las Vegas Sands, lost money, but being the gifted businessman he is, he managed to turn things around. He hired a company to fill the foundations of the casino hotel with 100 pounds of dynamite and implode the building to build in its place the 1.3 billion Venetian Hotel and Casino, and the 1.2-million-square foot Sands Convention Center.
The Venetian shares the top spot as Las Vegas' most profitable casino hotel with Steve Wynn's Bellagio. The story goes that the hotel casino was named by his wife after a trip to the city of Venice, Italy.
Sheldon’s $265 million Sands, a gleaming Vegas-style palace, opened in downtown Macau in May 2004. And not only has he already recouped his initial investment in an unbelievable 12 months, but his corporation also managed to generate over $320 million in pretax cash flow!
Adelson's second casino resort, the $2 billion Venetian Macau, now under construction will boast the world's biggest casino. It will open its door on August 28, 2007. Another casino resort currently under construction is the Palazzo. This hotel is also scheduled to open sometime in 2007.
Mr. Adelson’s latest business venture is of course “The Marina Bay Sands integrated Resorts?in Singapore. Analysts predict Integrated Resorts, the Marina Bay Sands, to become a big hit with locals, tourists, and visiting business people. The company has already received numerous inquiries about the convention facilities available. The Marina Bay Sands is scheduled to open its doors sometime in 2009.