{"id":81077,"date":"2019-07-09T14:03:40","date_gmt":"2019-07-09T12:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.next-finance.net\/portrait\/sheldon-adelson-a-biography\/"},"modified":"2020-01-02T22:10:26","modified_gmt":"2020-01-02T21:10:26","slug":"sheldon-adelson-a-biography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/beta.next-finance.net\/en\/portrait\/sheldon-adelson-a-biography\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheldon Adelson: a biography"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anyone who follows the business and financial headlines will be well aware of Sheldon Adelson, the casino magnate who\u2019s a force to be reckoned with in the gambling world. <\/p>\n

His personal wealth is worth a reported $37.3 billion<\/a> and he is the CEO, chairman and principal shareholder of Las Vegas Sands, the world\u2019s largest casino operator.<\/p>\n

Even if you don\u2019t know Adelson by name, his Las Vegas hotels The Palazzo and The Venetian or his Singapore resort, Marina Bay Sands, are familiar to millions. Let\u2019s take a look at his life and work in business and politics.<\/p>\n

From humble beginnings to COMDEX<\/h2>\n

Adelson may be a billionaire today, but his early days couldn\u2019t have started out much differently. Born on August 4th, 1933, Adelson was the son of a Boston taxi driver and grew up sleeping on the floor of his family\u2019s Boston tenement.<\/p>\n

His career started out with a loan of $200 from his uncle at 12 years old, to sell newspapers on a busy city street corner. He also sold adverts in trade press and worked as a court reporter to make a living. <\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until he launched the computer industry trade show COMDEX in 1979 that he truly hit the big time. The event grew to become the annual centerpiece of the computer industry\u2019s calendar throughout the 1980s and 1990s.<\/p>\n

Like a true entrepreneur, Adelson knew when to get out when the time was right. He sold COMDEX and several smaller shows for an impressive $862 million.<\/p>\n

Getting into the casino game<\/h2>\n

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\nAdelson\u2019s true calling was entering the casino business. But surprisingly, Adelson didn\u2019t get into the industry itself until he was 55, starting with the Sands Hotel and Casino, which he bought for $128 million in 1995 \u2014 and then demolished in 1996.<\/p>\n

The ageing establishment made way for The Venetian Las Vegas, which took two years and $1.5 billion to build. Naturally, Adelson wanted the hotel to be reminiscent of Venice, Italy. He ordered detailed renderings of famous attractions in the city, such as Doge\u2019s Palace, the Rialto Bridge and Campanile tower. Finally, the hotel opened in April 1999.<\/p>\n

The success of The Venetian was the starting point to push ahead with building The Sands Macau, since it allowed him to obtain a license for the project. The hotel, which opened in 2004, cost more than $265 million to build.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s small change, considering he made $2.2 billion in a single week in April 2019, thanks to significant revenue from the Macau hotel. The company\u2019s share price went up by 8.8%.<\/p>\n

Fighting the corner of land-based casinos<\/h2>\n

As an owner of land-based casinos, Adelson certainly doesn\u2019t welcome the arrival of online ones and has fervently campaigned against them. Some have even linked him to the recent crackdown on online gambling<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the first quarter of the year, he and his wife Miriam donated a combined $500,000<\/a> to the Trump campaign, earning them Medals of Freedom as a result. However, sources close to Adelson have stated he\u2019s never taken advantage of his influence to approach the President personally and request such a crackdown.<\/p>\n

Adelson may be firmly against online gambling \u2013 perhaps due to his interests in the bricks-and-mortar gambling industry \u2013 but many other markets, and players, support it. Following the repeal of PASPA in 2018, online sports betting has started to become legal<\/a> across the US, a move for which New Jersey especially has fought hard \u2013 along with West Virginia and Delaware. Now the wheels have been set in motion, many are now in favor of legalizing online casinos too \u2013 with many operators keen to get their foot in the door.<\/p>\n

After all, online casinos provide players with the chance to have a flutter on their favourite games from the comfort from their own home \u2013 anytime, anywhere and using any device. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, unlike in the case of brick-and-mortar venues, visitors to online casinos have the chance to educate themselves on how to play the games on offer and practice playing them before gambling with their money. They can use the casinos\u2019 online guides to the most popular games, giving them a better chance of winning when they take to the tables.<\/p>\n

For example, you should really read gambling expert John Grochowski\u2019s guide about how to play craps<\/a> before heading to the table. It covers the rules of the game plus strategies to win \u2013 and is quite simply a must-read if you\u2019re ever thinking of playing the game online or in a land-based casino.<\/p>\n

However, it appears that online gambling legalization is still some way off. In January 2019, the US Justice Department broadened its interpretation<\/a> of rules relating to sports gambling to include online gambling and lottery businesses.<\/p>\n

Influence in domestic and foreign policy<\/h2>\n

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\nThe gambling world isn\u2019t the only place Adelson holds some serious sway. He\u2019s also a powerful figure in politics, given he\u2019s close to Trump.<\/p>\n

The Las Vegas Review, the newspaper which Adelson bought for $128 million, was among those that endorsed the current president<\/a> on his way to victory. The couple also pledged a further $5 million towards the inauguration festivities.<\/p>\n

As a result of these generous donations, he has come to be known as the president\u2019s \u2018Patron-in-Chief\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time Adelson has contributed financially to an election campaign. In 2012, he sent $17 million Newt Gingrich\u2019s way to support his ultimately unsuccessful quest to become the Republican nominee for presidential candidate.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also his outspoken support for Israel<\/a>, which included backing the relocation of the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He\u2019s committed to strengthening ties between the US and Israel, and has worked to protect Israel interests within the US \u2013 paying for new headquarters in Washington for the powerful pro-Israel group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. <\/p>\n

Adelson has further supported the organization by funding \u2018birth-right\u2019 trips to Israel for young Jewish Americans. According to Forbes, he has donated $410 million<\/a> to the program and provided further finance to a group that opposes criticism of the Jewish state at US universities.<\/p>\n

Life of luxury<\/h2>\n

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When not supporting philanthropy projects, political candidates or his business interests, you might find Adelson at one of his many homes.<\/p>\n

The 85-year-old billionaire owns a huge mansion in Las Vegas and he\u2019s also the owner of various properties in The Colony, a gated community in Malibu, California, popular with Hollywood celebrities.<\/p>\n

If not relaxing on land, he may spend some quiet time on \u2018Queen Miri\u2019, the private yacht he bought in 2015 for around $70 million and named after his wife, Miriam.<\/p>\n

Adelson\u2019s days of selling newspapers on a Boston city corner are a long way behind him now as he rubs shoulders with people at the very highest level of American politics and enjoys the trappings of a major gambling empire. It\u2019s a story to inspire us all.