Sheldon Adelson

Sheldon Adelson

Sheldon Gary Adelson was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and political donor. He was the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which owns the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Adelson and his wife Miriam Adelson were Trump’s largest donors. They provided the largest donation to Trump’s 2016 campaign, his presidential inauguration, his defense fund against the Mueller investigation into Russian interference, and the 2020 campaign.

About Sheldon Adelson in brief

Summary Sheldon AdelsonSheldon Gary Adelson was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and political donor. He was the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which owns the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Adelson and his wife Miriam Adelson were Trump’s largest donors; they provided the largest donation to Trump’s 2016 campaign, his presidential inauguration, his defense fund against the Mueller investigation into Russian interference, and the 2020 campaign. As of September 2020, he was listed by Forbes as having a fortune of US$33.5 billion, making him the 28th-richest person in the world and 17th in Forbes 400. His father’s family was of Ukrainian Jewish and Lithuanian Jewish ancestry. His mother immigrated from England, and Adelson claimed that his grandfather was a Welsh coal miner. He started his business career at the age of 12, when he borrowed USD 200 from his uncle and purchased a license to sell newspapers in Boston. He attended the City College of New York, but did not graduate, and attended trade school in a failed attempt to become a court reporter, then subsequently joined the army. In the 1960s, he started a charter tour business. By his thirties he had built and lost his fortune twice. He created almost fifty of his own businesses, making he a serial entrepreneur. In 1995, Adelson sold the Interface Group Show Division, including the COMDEX shows, to SoftBank Corporation of Japan for USD 862 million; Adelson’s share was over USD 500 million.

In 1988, he and his partners purchased the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, the former hangout of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack. In 1991, he razed the Sands and spent USD 1. 5 billion to construct The Venetian, a Venice-themed resort hotel and casino. In 2003, he added the 1,013-suite Venezia tower – giving the hotel 4,049 suites; 18 restaurants, and a shopping mall with canals, gondolas, and singing Gondoliers. The one-million-square-foot Sands Macao became the People’s Republic of China’s first Las Vegas-style casino when it opened in May 2004. In 2007, he increased his initial investment in the Sands by 69% because he owned 69% of the stock, and because he wanted to bring the Sands name to the Chinese city of Macau, a Portuguese colony that had been a gambling city until December 1999. The casino opened May 22, 2009. Table games began operation on July 18, 2010. The hotel opened May 27, 2011. Adelson said we have the opportunity to build an integrated resort, and we’re going to do it. We think it will attract the customers and the tax revenue to the state and the Lehigh Valley. –Sheldon Adelson, 2013. He and the company decided to build a casino resort in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the late 2000s, it is one of five stand-alone casinos that were awarded a slots license by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.