NAME: Sheldon Gary Adelson

Sheldon Adelson became an entrepreneur at an early age. He created several very successful businesses, and developed the computer trade show COMDEX. He went on to build casino resorts in Las Vegas and Asia, and later ventured into politics, generously supporting Republican causes and candidates.

Sheldon’s father drove a taxicab and sold advertisements, and his mother ran a small knitting store. Sheldon start working at a young age selling newspapers and by age 12 he owned his first business, selling toiletries. He entered City College of New York, majoring in corporate finance, but dropped out after less than two years. He joined the U.S. Army and started working as a court stenographer on Wall Street, where he set his sights on making his fortune. After leaving the Army, he worked as a mortgage broker and investment adviser and soon made his first fortune. He moved back to Boston and invested in various companies, among them a travel and tour business, The American International Travel Service, which was very profitable. However, his success turned sour in a stock market decline.

Adelson rebounded in the real estate brokerage business in Boston, arranging condominium conversions, and did well for a time until the condo market took a dive. Scrambling to find a lifeline, he caught a big break when he bought a company that published magazines, among them Data Communications User, a computer magazine. After attending a condo trade convention, he learned that the producer was a condo magazine publisher. Adel son believed the same effort could be made for the computer business and started a trade show for the computer industry. With the modest success of his first show, Sheldon Adel son could see he was onto something. He sold his condominium holdings and the publishing company, but held on to the trade show business, launching the Interface Group and concentrating on the computer show. The company grew slowly, garnering only $250,000 in its first year of operation.

Moreover, Adelson created the Computer Dealers Expo, or COMDEX, and held the show at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. His timing was perfect, as the personal computer industry was just taking off. As brands such as IBM, Apple and Microsoft began their rapid growth, Adelson’s trade show was there to present their products to consumers and to other companies. COMDEX had grossed $20 million and become the largest trade show in Las Vegas. By the end of the decade, the Interface Group had reached a net income of $250 million and expanded COMDEX shows into other countries. Adelson and his partners began looking for hotel property to complement their travel companies and their several private jets. They purchased the legendary Sands Casino for $128 million, famed for being the hangout of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack. Adel son redesigned the Sands to his business model. He built a resort, shopping mall and convention center for his company’s events, including COMDEX. He also began his notorious battles with regulatory authorities and unions while constructing the new Sands Casino and Convention Center.

Furthermore, Sheldon Adel son was inspired by the canals and architecture of Venice and began to envision a mega-resort hotel. So, he sold COMDEX to a Japanese firm for $860 million, with a personal share of over $500 million. Free now to make his own deals with Wall Street bankers, Adelson shed his partnerships with Interface and ventured out on his own to build his $1.5 billion Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sands Expo and Convention Center. Despite legal and contractual battles with unions and contractors, the resort opened and was wildly successful. Following the success of the Venetian, Sheldon Adel son was presented with an offer he couldn’t refuse. Through business associates he was able to negotiate an agreement to open another Venetian casino resort on the Chinese island of Macao, which had recently become the center of a massive Asian gambling market. Adelson was awarded a hotly contested license to construct a casino resort at Singapore’s Marina Bay. The Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino opened at a rumored cost of $5.5 billion.

Sheldon Adel son began to lend his influence and wealth to political candidates of his liking. Originally a Democrat, Adel son became a Republican as his wealth increased. He became dissatisfied with paying higher tax rates and clashed with trade unions, both of which were supported by Democrats. Adel son contributed $250,000 to the second inaugural of George W. Bush. The Adel sons have also given millions of dollars to various charitable organizations, many of which support Israeli and Jewish causes, including Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, and the Museum of Holocaust Art. Adel son is a member of the board of directors of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Sheldon Adelson established the Adel son Family Charitable Trust, which is expected to donate $200 million to Jewish and Israeli causes.