Meet the billionaire behind iconic casinos like The Venetian and Marina Bay Sands, who’s worth $37 billion, lives in a Vegas mansion, and has donated more than $25 million to Trump

REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

• Sheldon Adelson is the billionaire chairman and majority shareholder of the world’s largest casino operator, Las Vegas Sands.
• The 85-year-old casino mogul is worth an estimated $37.3 billion, according to Bloomberg.
• Adelson lives in a multimillion dollar Las Vegas megamansion and owns several properties in Malibu, California.
• Adelson and his wife are some of Donald Trump’s biggest donors, having made at least $25 million in political contributions. 
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

 

You may not have heard of Sheldon Adelson, but you’ve probably heard of some of his world-famous properties: the Venetian and the Palazzo hotels in Las Vegas, or perhaps the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore made famous by "Crazy Rich Asians."

Adelson is the billionaire chairman and majority shareholder of the world’s largest casino operator, Las Vegas Sands. His company operates the Venetian in Las Vegas and the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, among others.

Read more: I stayed in the $6.6 billion mega-hotel in the heart of Singapore, and it wasn’t anything like ‘Crazy Rich Asians’

He’s also given millions of dollars in political contributions to high-profile Republican politicians. Adelson gave at least $17 million in political contributions to Newt Gingrich during his 2012 presidential campaign, according to The New York Times. And Adelson has made at least $25 million in political contributions to Trump, earning him the nickname "Trump’s Patron-in-Chief."

Adelson and his wife, Miriam, reportedly live in a Las Vegas megamansion, own a 300-foot superyacht, and travel in a 380-passenger private jet.

Here’s a look at the Las Vegas billionaire’s life, career, and wealth.

Sheldon Adelson is the 85-year-old billionaire behind the world’s largest casino operator, Las Vegas Sands.

Michael Kovac/WireImage

Las Vegas Sands operates properties worldwide including the Venetian Las Vegas, the Palazzo Las Vegas, the Sands Expo & Convention Center, the Sands Macao, the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, the Sands Bethlehem, and more. 

Adelson was the son of a cab driver in Boston.

Photo by K. Y. Cheng/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)

His first jobs included selling newspapers on street corners, selling ads in trade magazines, and serving as a court reporter.

Adelson first started making big money in trade shows. He launched COMDEX, a technology trade show in Las Vegas, with partners in 1979.

Reuters

The trade show became one of the most attended in the world, and in 1995, Adelson and his partners sold it along with other smaller shows to SoftBank for $862 million.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

See Also:

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Source: Business Insider – kwarren@businessinsider.com (Katie Warren)