The richest gambling boss ever was a man named Sheldon Adelson. It makes sense that few people have heard from him outside of America. But in the United States he was very influential. Especially in the world of casinos, especially those in Las Vegas, it is an iconic figure.
But this has not always been the case. Sheldon Adelson was not an heir to a fortune. His father was not exactly at the wheel of a million -dollar company. Neither was the rest of his family nobility. So the question remains how Adelson managed to become supreme in Las Vegas. How he got billions of dollars and how he has ever become the richest gambling boss.
looking for a Legal online casino?
Nice online casinos
Casin
•Welcome bonus from 100% to $ 250
Kansino
•Payment within 15 minutes
Holland Casino Online
•50% bonus + 50 free spins!
The youth of Sheldon Adelson
Sheldon Adelson is born on August 4, 1933. The Adelson family has an arm existence. Mother Sarah was immigrated from England and has a modest knitting store. Father Arthur is a taxi driver. They live with four children in a poor neighborhood on 44 Erie Street in Boston. It is a Jewish family. On the age of twelve, Sheldon decides to work.
His uncle gives him $ 200 to make a start. He uses this money to sell newspapers to passers -by with a permit one and a half kilometers from his house. He dreams of having a candy store and a few years later he earned enough money to buy a candy machine. After taking out another loan, he starts his first company at the age of 16. He rents out candy machines. The candy store also becomes a reality shortly thereafter.
Young adult
With an early career start you can say that Sheldon Adelson was already adults for a young age. By the time he also becomes biologically young adult, he has greater ambitions. He goes to the City College of New York, but never obtains a diploma here. He then goes to a vocational school to become a reporter of lawsuits. But this too is not a thunderous success. He entered the army at the beginning of the 1950s. For a while he works as a stenographer for the martial council. After his resignation from the army, he delves into business with dedication.
A businessman
Sheldon Adelson grabs every chance he can grab. From the age of twelve, when he started selling newspapers. After stopping his studies and resignation of the army, a period of entrepreneurship follows. He himself said about this time: "I did 50 different things, maybe more. I have forgotten a lot of it. "He decides to invest in real estate.
He also gives PR advice to companies. He learned this in his time as a reporter. For this he often gets paid in shares and uses this to start a number of companies themselves. Adelson focuses on new products for which he sees a gap in the market. He has set up nearly 50 companies about the span of his life.
Rebuild
The companies of Sheldon Adelson are generally doing well; He soon becomes a millionaire. But it doesn't always go as expected. By the time he becomes 30 losing and rebuilt his fortune to twice. A turbulent time for Adelson. He also gradually ends up in the real estate industry. He starts by converting buildings into apartments.
In the 1960s, Adelson sells many of his companies and shares and shifts his focus to real estate. He bites himself in this industry and is determined to be successful in it. However, he still continues to invest in other industries. In 1970 he invested in a publishing house of trade journals. Later he would have a number of publishers of newspapers. From selling loose newspapers to having your own newspaper - that's how the circle is round.
A new medium
A year later he travels to California for a conference on apartments. This is organized by a publisher of a magazine. Sheldon Adelson is impressed by the way they do this and sees a new opportunity for his own magazine about computers. He decides to organize a computer fair. The readers and advertisers are exchanged for visitors and exhibitors.
This fair is given the name Data Communications and Exposition. Three years later he gets a disagreement with his partners and the publisher is distributed. His partners get the magazine and Adelson continues with the computer fair. He decides to sell all his property and move the stock market. From Dallas to Las Vegas. He changes the name of the fair Computer Showcase Expo. Adelson goes through the whole of America with his fair.
The road to Vegas
Sheldon Adelson in Las Vegas finds the most success with his fair. He goes looking for the reason why, so that he can also duplicate it in other cities. It appears that after their work the people of Las Vegas like to go to a show, exhibition or expo. After this, most people will continue. At night they like to play roulette and other games near their hotel.
After having this insight, he decides not to apply this to his stock exchange. Instead, he invests in casinos. Sometimes these attempts do not succeed in the first instance. In 1987 he tries the hotel and casino Sands To buy 147 million dollars. A Japanese investor offers 10 million more. But Adelson has the last smile and buys Sands for 20 million a year later under his original offer. In addition to the building, he also gets 60 hectares of undeveloped land for this money.
A new type of casino
The Sheldon Adelson computer fair has meanwhile changed its name to Comdex. It has also become one of the most important computer fairs in the world. Adelson and his partners make a cunning decision to distribute the shares of the exhibition company among their children. Adelson has two sons, Mitchell and Gary. Both have been adopted. With the trust He expects his sons to take over the company from him for them.
He then invests in Sands. He makes it more than just a hotel and casino. For example, shops, theaters and restaurants come in. He puts an exhibition center on the undeveloped land. He wants to make sure that no one ever Sands has to leave. The idea is that everything that makes Vegas fun can be found under one roof.
Setbacks
Not everything runs smoothly for Sheldon Adelson. The 90s brings setbacks. There will be lawsuits between him and hired employees such as the architect and building supervisor. His wife Sandra gets cancer and dies. His sons are not doing well either, they develop stubborn drug addictions. In addition, the economy does not contribute to it either. Many of his plans no longer receive support from investors and banks.
Sands has also been running for five years. The problems are piling up. For example, his eldest son has a debt of a few million dollars. Adelson buys the shares of his sons back and decides to ignore Sands for the time being. In 1994 his sons each received more than 5 million. To exclude anyone in his family, he also gives this amount to his daughter Shelley.
New possibilities
A year later, happiness laughs Sheldon Adelson again. A Japanese company concludes Comdex And to buy the other stock markets from Adelson and his partners. This is done for 862 million dollars. With 60% of the shares, Adelson received more than 500 million. After this windfall, he decides to break down the Sands. While Sands falls, he builds an expocenter elsewhere that becomes the first private conference center. This center has an area of 1.2 million square meters.
The Sands Casino and Hotel, however, get new plans. This time with a luxury that Vegas has never seen before. Every room is a suite. The food matches that of the best restaurants in the world and the entertainment is of excellent quality. This can be clearly seen in the price of a room in Sands. The prices in the rest of Vegas are low to attract people to the casino. Adelson thinks that if he offers people more, they will pay more for it.
The Venetian
Sheldon Adelson has an appointment with the Miriam Farbstein-Schshorn doctor in the late 1980s. She is a specialist in drug addiction. Adelson then regularly invests in research into addictions. This creates a collaboration and later, in 1991, also a marriage. They go to Israel for the wedding. The honeymoon takes place in Venice. This gives him inspiration; An idea for a thematic project. He brings architects, designer and engineers to Venice to experience the city.
Then Adelson asks them to copy the romance and iconic characteristics of the city as authentically as possible. The project is becoming increasingly extensive. Adelson wants a city square to come. A waterway with gondolas for the visitors. A copy of the Dogpaleis. The challenge for the designers is constantly increasing. However, Adelson is not ready yet. He ensures that the marketing is perfect and brings world chefs to Las Vegas. He also provides top attractions. This is how the casino becomes The Venetian born.

Long live Las Vegas
The plans for Sands are applied to The Venetian. However, this huge project also has setbacks. For example, lawsuits ensure a delay in construction. There is also a struggle with trade unions and the competition is killing. Sheldon Adelson's plans do not go unnoticed and inspire other investors to do the same.
During the construction of The Venetian, for example, the Bellagio is also being worked on. Other casinos also receive spectacle pieces, such as the volcano at the Mirage. Many of these projects irritate the local government that suddenly have to do much more work. This appears to be a decisive period in the creation of the current Las Vegas.
The gambler
Sheldon Adelson, however, can no longer be stopped by anyone. The Venetian is coming. He then plunges into all kinds of industries. He works together with hotel chains and starts casinos in other cities. He extends to cities like Macau and brings his companies to the stock exchange. Sheldon Adelson is one of the top three richest Americans shortly after the turn of the century.
Adelson has been known for its philanthropy for a longer period of time. He mainly finances projects regarding education and addiction. In 2005 he also invests openly in projects and organizations related to Judaism. He also invests in Israeli newspapers. He also exerts influence on politics with his gigantic fortune.
The influence of Sheldon Adelson
Adelson had collected a gigantic fortune and of course there is a lot of influence with this. For example, Adelson regularly donated campaigns from Republican politicians. He was a strong supporter of Donald Trump and gave him huge amounts (about $ 25 million) in the run -up to the presidency. He and his wife were also a vocal opponent of legalizing cannabis in the United States.
When Online Gambling He was also an opponent of popularity, and supported a law that would make this illegal. However, this did not come to the relief of many. He also had right -wing ideas about what had to be done with Israel and Palestine. This often gave him an image as a hard person. Something that helped him to become the richest gambling boss.
The end of Adelson
After a very successful period, the setbacks return. His son Mitchell died due to an overdose of heroin and cocaine. In 2001, a nervous disease was found in him. Because of this condition, he has to take a step back from business. He leaves the management to his son -in -law Patrick Dumont. Adelson is increasingly disappearing into the background.
In 2019 it will be announced that he is suffering from a form of blood cancer. This made it virtually impossible to do the tasks he still has. After a long sickbed, Sheldon Adelson died on January 11, 2021 in his house in Malibu, California. He is buried in Jerusalem. His assets was completed in 2020 Forbes Magazine estimated at $ 33.5 billion. Sheldon Adelson has turned 87 years old.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sheldon Adelson is not really a well -known name here. In the United States, specifically Las Vegas, he is an icon. He was at the foreground of Vegas as we know it now. With the many characteristic and gigantic casinos and resorts. He continued to invest all life and built casinos, hotels and resorts around the world. Like in Macau and Singapore, for example. A well -known example is the casino The Venetian In Las Vegas. With his huge capacity of more than 30 billion dollars, he was also active in philanthropy and politics.
Sheldon Adelson had a modest start to his life. He was born in Boston in 1933, Massachusetts. His parents were poor and so he borrowed some money from his uncle at the age of 12. With this he bought a license to be able to sell newspapers with the dream to open a candy store. After a recruiting period he ends up in Las Vegas and buys the hotel and casino Sands. The candy store also came.
Sheldon Adelson has started small. Literal. When he was twelve, Adelson lent some money from his uncle to be able to sell newspapers to passers -by on the street. With the proceeds from this he started a company that rented candy machines. Years later he manages all kinds of companies and invests heavily in real estate. He organizes a computer fair that brings him to Las Vegas. Here he continues to invest and comes into possession of Hotel and Casino Sands. However, he does not stop and his projects were getting bigger and bigger. Eventually he had casinos and resorts around the world. He died as a multi -billionaire.