Can You Do a QoD on Sheldon Adelson?

Since you did a story on Kirk Kerkorian, could you one on Sheldon Adelson and how he got his start?

Sheldon Gary Adelson was a prominent American businessman, investor, and philanthropist, known primarily for his influential role in the casino and hospitality industry.

He was born in 1933 in Boston, the son of Jewish immigrants. His father, Arthur, was a cab driver; his mother, Sarah, ran a knitting shop.

In a story he often told, his entrepreneurial spirit surfaced early. He started his first business, selling newspapers on the corner in Dorchester, around the age of 12. To do so, he borrowed today's equivalent of around $3,500 from an uncle to buy a vendor license. He paid off the loan in a couple of years, then borrowed $10,000 (the equivalent of around $125,000 today) from his uncle to get into the candy vending-machine business. We couldn't find any information about the disposition of that loan, but we assume it was paid off.

He dropped out of the City College of New York to go to court-reporter trade school, but when that didn't pan out, he enlisted in the Army. Though it was during the Korean War, he didn't go overseas, returning to Massachusetts and serving out his time as a court reporter. So he did, in the end, manage to put his trade-school training to some use.

After his term of enlistment, he started a couple of businesses (selling toiletries door to door and manufacturing a de-icer for auto windshields) before taking a page from his father's book and getting into the charter tour business. That was where he made his first million.

According to Wiki, he started upwards of 50 businesses and thought of himself as a "serial entrepreneur."

In the '70s, Adelson saw an opportunity in computer trade shows. In 1979, he and several partners launched COMDEX, building it into one of the world's largest computer trade shows, earning him tens of millions a year well into the '90s. COMDEX was held in Las Vegas in those days, where Adelson got interested in the hotel-casino business. He purchased the Sands for $110 million in 1988 in order to build a convention center where he could hold COMDEX without having to rent floor space; the Sands Convention and Expo Center opened in 1990.

In 1995, he sold COMDEX to a Japanese company for $860 million; his share was a half-billion smackers.

In another story we told recently in a QoD about Miriam Adelson, when she and Sheldon were honeymooning in Venice, Miriam suggested building a Venetian-themed megaresort. Adelson spent $1.5 billion on the Venetian, which opened in 1999 (celebrating its silver anniversary last month).

The rest is recent history. Adelson's company, Las Vegas Sands, branched out into Macau (notably the Venetian Macau) and Singapore (Marina Bay Sands). Adelson, with his wife Miriam, was a world-class philanthropist, primarily donating to medical research, support for Israel, and Jewish causes via the Adelson Family Foundation. A noted conservative in his political views, he bought up a couple of newspapers in Israel and the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He was also one of the Republican Party's biggest donor whales and contributed countless millions to presidential campaigns.

Personally, he had five children from his first marriage, three of them adopted.

Adelson suffered from a serious case of neuropathy that limited his mobility; he was in a motorized wheelchair for the last nearly 10 years of his life. He disappeared from view around 2017 and it was later revealed that he had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. Due to his advanced age, he didn't recover and died on January 11, 2021, at the age of 87, due to complications related to the cancer.

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Comments

Kevin Lewis Jun-18-2024

Legacy

He wasn't just a garden variety Republican; he was a howling, rabid right-winger. He regarded the Las Vegas Review-Journal as his personal soapbox; he had a regular editorial column chock full of some pretty horrifying opinions. And of course, he was an avid supporter of and mega-donor to a certain orange felon-to+be.

The above failings severely tarnish his legacy, but that's balanced out by his philanthropy and support for worthwhile non-nutjob causes. So history may view him favorably.

RickZ Jun-18-2024

Same old, same old

Re: Comment above....Pitiful, but predictable.

Hoppy Jun-18-2024

Report this

Adelson got the ball rolling in getting the Raiders to L.V.

William Nye Jun-18-2024

Good owner

When we would visit the Venetian and ask employees if they ever saw him on the floor it was always a positive, oh yes he went by in his 'cart', always said hello and seemed to really care for the place and those that worked for him especially during the covid stuff!

Bob Jun-18-2024

Hmmm

"He regarded the Las Vegas Review-Journal as his personal soapbox"    
Much like Kevin and LVA!  just sayn'  
RIP Sheldon Adelson

O2bnVegas Jun-18-2024

I vote favorable

"...he started upwards of 50 businesses...", the first "selling newspapers on the corner" at age 12.  

Much more is nicely detailed in this QoD report.  This is a talent in itself, being able to condense a bio like this in a few paragraphs.  Thanks, LVA.

"History" should most definitely view Adelson's accomplishments favorably, IMHO.

Candy

Randall Ward Jun-18-2024

Adelsons

my favorite story was he would refer to himself as Sheldon Adelson the 3rd, not because it was a family name but because he was the 3rd richest man in the world

Lucky Jun-18-2024

Legacy 2

Who cares if he was right or left.  The man and his family donated 100's of millions to medical research, Israel, hospitals, cancer treatments for those that could not pay for them, etc.  Who knows what new treatments were discovered with his donation.  Lets hope you never need this Kevin, but if you should end up somewhere where Sheldon was a benefactor, you tell them you do not want any treatments that were discovered with Sheldon's money, we will then understand you stand by your beliefs.  Like Arafat went to Israel for his cancer treatments.  When push came to shove, his principles disintegrated.

Robert Jun-18-2024

Contrast in values

It's been reported that Miriam has teed up to donate millions once again to the Trump campaign. It's a head scratcher for me. For all of the wonderful philanthropy that she and her husband engaged in, how on earth does she see this latest donation as something for the common good?

Kevin Lewis Jun-18-2024

Contradiction

Yeah, Robert, to respond to your question and the snide comments of others, well...I've been receiving successful but expensive cancer treatments...which have only been available because of healthcare availability expansion (Obamacare)...which Republicans have been radically opposed to for decades and Trump has vowed to destroy. So when Adelson/his wife donate to Wide-Eyed Waifs or whatever but also dump bushels of money into Trump's lap, forgive me if my opinion of them is somewhat...mixed. If Trump wins, I very well might go broke or die. And so may millions of others.

David Miller Jun-18-2024

Ever Notice

 This question was supposed to be about Sheldon Adelson, until Lewis made it a diatribe about President Trump and himself. Just once it would be nice if everyone could stay on topic.

sunny78 Jun-18-2024

lva?

So we have the village idiot spouting pure politics again in several posts with his woke hatred of the "orange" man and more. Hey LVA, I thought politics discussion wasn't allowed here or am I missing something? If the village idiot is allowed to speak like this, can I and others speak our political views to rebut? Where does it stop? Here I thought it did with Anthony stepping in a few times in the past but apparently, no. Maybe QOD comment section is the new flame war and gaslighting platform for angry tribal politic players and I missed something in my membership of its existence?

As for the village idiot criticizing Adelson, I think it's beyond obvious he did far far FAR more in life to various charities, taxes paid, jobs created, and contributed to Las Vegas than he ever did would be an understatement. Who gives a damn what his politics are? And what's your life legacy, bitching endlessly about politics and Las Vegas and how you can't get a $0.99 breakfast anymore?

Robert Jun-18-2024

All politics are local

Unfortunately, despite their philanthropy, the Adelsons have become intrinsically linked to politics as well.

Kevin Lewis Jun-18-2024

Typical, sadly

Sunny78, your post says more about the nature and behavior of Trumpets than I ever could. Well done!

Insofar as Adelson and politics are concerned, not discussing his massive support for Trump would be like discussing Krupp Industries without mentioning their connections to the Nazis.

joseph eisenmeier Jun-19-2024

Same old, same old

Kevin -  we  all  know you intensely  hate the  GOP  and Trump.  Could  you direct the  political comments to Facebook and leave them out of here?

Walter Suttle Jun-21-2024

Walter Suttle

Kevin is right as usual. I will defend him , anytime. As for the Orange Shitgibbon, there was one anti ShitStain and at least a half dozens whiners, I mean supporters.

Question of the Day - 18 June 2024

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