Sheldon Adelson He was one of the richest people in the history of the United States thanks to his casino empire. His risky bets turned him into a gambling magnate with investments of million of dollars in Las Vegas resorts. The key to his negotiations was the character he forged in his harsh childhood.
The billionaire was the president of Vegas Sands Corporation, with its main investments in the “sin city” with the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sans Expo Convention Center. The King of Casinos was also recognized for his impact on politics by contributing to Republican Party candidates. Adelson and his wife Miriam were estimated to be the largest donors to Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.
The beginnings of Sheldon Adelson, the king of casinos
The American was born into a family of Jewish immigrants and grew up in a low-income neighborhood. His parents lived in a rented room, where the adults took over the mattress and the children slept on the floor. The Adelsons’ difficult financial situation made Sheldon begin to sold newspapers at age 12 and then bought vending machines to put at the points where taxi drivers met.
The businessman got his first job when he joined the army after finishing high school. Later he would use his gift in business to sell advertising space in financial magazines. It also began to be an intermediary between emerging companies and small banks to negotiate financing.
What allowed him to make an economic leap in his earnings was the condominium market. This sector was booming and Adelson was able to make hundreds of sales. The billionaire had recalled this stage of his life in an interview with Forbes when he stated: “It was in the 1970s when most people thought that a condo was a form of birth control.”
From Rags to Absolute Riches: How Sheldon Adelson Got Rich
Profits in real estate made way for bigger bets like hotels and his trade show company, Interface. This last venture allowed it to gain global relevance by initiating the main technological summits since the 1980s, with the Comdex event. These meetings were based in Las Vegas and attracted more than 100,000 people a year due to the revolution in computing. His success allowed him buy Sans casino in 1989 for $129 million so as not to have to rent a property for your fair again.
six years later sold the Comdex fair to Softbank for 890 million dollars and poured his winnings into the Venetian casino in Las Vegas. This acquisition cost a total of 1.5 billion dollars in 1995. The combination of its complexes formed the “sin city” or Sin City, for its proposals of luxury rooms, shops, high-end restaurants and massive events near its casinos. .
The next few years were characterized by the internationalization of Adelson’s capital by betting on a new hotel and casino complex in Macau city, China. This place was becoming a kind of Las Vegas in the Asian country and the American opened Sands Macau in 2004 and later redoubled his bet with the Venetian Macau in 2007.
What was Sheldon Adelson’s net worth at the time of his death?
The billionaire died on January 11, 2021 at the age of 88. At that time, the king of casinos was ranked 19th among the wealthiest people in the world. He achieved this position thanks to his net worth, which was calculated at around 35 billion dollars.
Source: Ambito
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