Casino Billionaire Sheldon Adelson Passes Away

Casino Billionaire Sheldon Adelson Passes Away

Sheldon Adelson – casino mogul and a storied force in Macau’s rise as the world's largest gambling hub – has passed away at the age of 87.

Adelson passed away Monday night due to complications related to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to a statement from Las Vegas Sands Corp. 

There are plans for a memorial service in Las Vegas, to be announced at a later date, following a funeral held in Israel, the birthplace of second wife Dr. Miriam Adelson.

Origins: Rags to Riches

Adelson’s humble origins boast of a true rags-to-riches story as he was born in 1933 in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood and grew up in a one-room tenement. 

His father was a Lithuanian-born father who drove a cab, his mother came from Ukraine and ran a knitting shop while Adelson claimed that his grandfather was a Welsh coal miner.

Serial Entrepreneur

Having started or been involved in more than 50 different enterprises, Adelson's serial entrepreneurship first took roots when he was just 12-years old after borrowing $200 from his uncle to purchase a license for newspaper sales in Boston. At around the age of 15, borrowed another $10,000 from his uncle to start a candy vending machine business.

Thereafter, he took a break from business to enter the City College of New York, where he did not graduate; a trade school in a failed attempt to be a court reporter; the army where he was eventually discharged. 

He subsequently returned to entrepreneurship where he established more businesses in toiletry kits, chemical spays to remove ice from windshields, charter tours and more.

COMDEX

Adelson's first major break came after he and his partners established computer trade show business COMDEX in 1979.

It would go on to become one of the largest computer trade shows in the world throughout the 1980s and 1990s before it was sold as part of a larger deal to Japan’s SoftBank for $862 million in 1995. 

Las Vegas Sands

From his purchase of Sands Hotel and Casinos in Las Vegas for $110 million in 1988 to run expos and conventions, Adelson transformed the then failing casino with the $1.5 billion construction of the now renowned Venetian, modeled after architecture in Venice, Italy, following a honeymoon with his wife Dr. Adelson. 

He would then expand his casino empire beyond Las Vegas to other parts of the U.S. and Asia. His gambling business reached its peak after entering Macau in 1999 and eventually establishing five casinos including Sands Macao. 

Adelson also entered the Singapore market to build the landmark Marina Bay Sands, now one of the most expensive buildings in the world. 

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