Sheldon Adelson: How was his game empire created?
Sheldon Gary Adelson is an American billionaire and philanthropist. In 2007, he became the sixth wealthiest man on the planet. But the path to success was thorny and there were many pitfalls and failures along the way. Nevertheless, Adelson, who is now 85 years old, is a great example of unbending will and success. Sheldon Adelson currently heads the board of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, while serving as its Chief Executive Officer.
The future billionaire was born in Dorchester, near Boston, on August 6, 1933. His mother was born in Ukraine, his father in Lithuania. The poor Jewish Adelson family lived virtually starving, sometimes unable to afford even the essentials. Already at the age of 12, Sheldon started working – went out to sell newspapers. Later he worked as a mortgage broker and an entrepreneur. Then he dived into the financial sector – worked as an investment expert and financial consultant. Being a natural leader, Adelson created more than fifty companies in different directions.
How did Sheldon Adelson’s gambling business start?
In the 70s Adelson settled in Las Vegas and realized that this city needs not only entertainment, but also all kinds of exhibitions and conferences. In terms of exhibitions, Sheldon Adelson was famous for her annual exposition of the computer industry COMDEX. The first exhibition was held in 1979, the last one – in 2003. It was a long time. In 1995, the company COMDEX was bought by the Japanese company SoftBank, for $860 million.
Then began the gaming business of Adelson. The businessman together with his partners in 1988 bought the same legendary casino The Sands Hotel & Casino (“Sands”), where Frank Sinatra and the famous American band Rat Pack loved to spend time. Developing the casino and attracting more guests and investors, Adelson and partners added a new expo center – The Sands Expo Convention Center, which made the position of “Sin City” more solid in the exhibition industry of the United States.
In his personal life, Adelson is happily married with Miriam Oxhorn (born Farbstein) and a family grief that turned both spouses’ lives upside down. Miriam was born in 1945 in Tel Aviv, the Israeli capital. The marriage to Miriam continues to this day. The woman, who is now an outstanding medical doctor and a researcher, gave the billionaire two sons, named Mitchell and Harry, and daughter Shelley. Unfortunately, the Adelson family was in misery. Both sons were addicted to drugs, and in 2005, Mitchell was gone. Cause of death was an overdose. My brother’s death had a big impact on Harry, and he gave up drugs. Miriam started researching drug addiction and looking for effective treatment. Sheldon Adelson began to invest his numerous funds in charity.
Adelson has invested in the Taglit program, which finances the travel of young Jews to Israel. He then invested a large sum in opening a Center for Medical Research at the University of Tel Aviv. In January 2007, Adelson opened a charitable foundation that plans to spend up to two hundred million per year on Israel and Jews. Sheldon’s wife, Miriam, runs charitable programs in the medical field. And in the same 2007, the billionaire founded Freedoms Watch, a group that supported the Bush course in Iraq.
