Sheldon Gary Adelson is a famed American business mogul who is a known investor and philanthropist and who is the founder and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation. At age 85 he is estimated to have a fortune of some 38.5 billion USD, making him one of the richest men in the world. We want to know how he managed to amass such a fortune and how he keeps it going in spite of all his philanthropic work.The Las Vegas Sands Corporation own a Singapore based Marina and is the parent company of several subsidiaries, including the Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino and the Sands Expo and Convention Center – a high profile business location for those in the know. As an avid supporter of several causes he also owns the Israeli daily newspaper the Las Vegas Journal Review and is the founder of the Adelson Foundation from whence he donates to various worthwhile causes. He is perhaps best known for making waves in the recent American election when he donated a whopping five million to the Trump cause… a move which did not make him popular with the socialists.
Politically speaking Adelson has a huge allegiance to the Republican party and has made frequent and large donations to causes he supports in the past. He is a known public figure that was born in Boston to Jewish parents. He ran his first business -selling newspapers- from when he was 12 years old and at age 16 got involved in candy distribution. He later attended the City College of New York but found himself to be a better businessman than he was a student. He dropped out and served time in the army before starting yet another business – this one selling de-icer. After a stint of charter tours Adelson found himself rich by thirty and has started an estimated fifty businesses of his own in his time.
Comdex is arguably where his career truly took off. This ran a series of tech related shows for the computing industry and was sold to the Softbank Corporation for nearly a billion dollars – of which Adelson took away half. From then on he started the Sands Casino and allowed the Las Vegas Sands Corporation to grow from the ground up. The brand now extends across the globe with properties as far away as China. At 84 years old Adelson is not finished yet and shows no hint of retiring… but when he does he will probably start a new business or two for the road.
Although a generous giver, Adelson has made no moves to sign the Giving Pledge, an agreement where billionaires pledge to give away half or more of their fortune. Instead he has donated large sums to the Adelson Educational Campus in Las Vegas, has made contributions totaling some $140 million to the Adelson Family Foundation and has started a foundation for the Adelson Program in Neural Repair and Rehabilitation. He is also a known investor in the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces.
Neural Repair and RehabilitationAdelson has had a full and fortunate life but there is no questioning his gains were down to hard work and sheer determination. Like we said, he shows no sign of retiring yet so watch this space and see what he gets up to next!