You may not be familiar with his name or face, but you’ve no doubt heard of Sheldon Adelson’s world famous casinos and resorts. Adelson is the founder and CEO of the gaming company Las Vegas Sands Corp., which currently operates The Venetian Las Vegas and The Palazzo in the United States, plus the Sands Macao, Sands Cotai Central and The Parisian in China and the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. His company also owns several hotels under licensed names in China, like the Four Seasons Macau and the St. Regis Macau.
Sheldon Adelson’s net worth is $29.2 billion. He ranks as the 21st richest person in the world and has name named as the richest man in Nevada, but it wasn’t easy getting there. He was born in Massachusetts to low-income immigrant parents, and started as an entrepreneur as early as age 12 when he started selling newspapers. Over the years, he has created nearly 50 different businesses, in diverse industries like candy vending machines, toiletries, a product to defrost windshields, and charter tours. He was one of the founders of the COMDEX computer tradeshow, which was sold in 1995 to a Japanese company for $862 million, of which $500 million went to Adelson.
These days, he has benefited from rapid income growth after taking a big hit to his fortune in 2008 and 2009. He bounced back after the 2010 opening of the Marina Bay Sands casino, which is listed as the third most expensive building in the world.
Adelson and his wife Miriam are active in the Jewish and Israeli communities and have donated millions of dollars to related organizations, including $140 million to Birthright Israel. They also started a private foundation for medical research (his wife is a physician and medical researcher). Together, Sheldon and Miriam have 5 children between the two of them: 3 adopted children from Adelson’s first marriage, and 2 from Miriam’s first marriage.
