There are specific people behind the gambling industry as a whole. There are mixed feelings about them. Some people admire and learn from them because they think they are smart businessmen. On the other hand, some people judge them. There is only one thing that is certain: these people are amazing and often brave, but they also know how to run a business, understand what the needs of the moment are, and can accurately predict how well their future businesses will do. People like this make millions of dollars from the gambling business.
Sheldon Adelson has a lot of money.
He is the richest person in the gambling business right now. He owns the company "Las Vegas Sands," which runs both the "Venetian" casino-hotel in Las Vegas and the "Venetian" casino-hotel in Macao. Sheldon's life is a lot like an old story about the American dream. The future billionaire was born in Boston in 1933 to a poor Jewish-Ukrainian family that had moved there from Eastern Europe. He had to work from a very young age. When he first started making money, he sold newspapers on the street. Sheldon, a self-made man who didn't go to school much, is now one of the best financiers in the United States. As a financial advisor, he gave more than 50 companies a new lease on life. Adelson was one of the first business people to think that IT technologies would be important in the future. He came up with the idea for the "COMDEX" international show-exhibition of IT technologies. In 1995, he sold it for $860 million to the Japanese.
The businessman got into the gambling business in 1989 when he bought the hotel-casino "Sands" in Las Vegas, which Frank Sinatra had owned before. Realizing that one more casino in Las Vegas isn't that big of a deal and won't make him much money, he decides to turn the gambling capital into an international business centre in order to attract wealthy entrepreneurs who might play at his casino. After a few years, Adelson built the "Sands Expo" business centre. In 1991, he put in $1.5 billion to build the "Venetian," which is a casino-hotel. The new casino was meant for both gamblers and businesspeople who came to his new business centre. "Venetian" is a casino-hotel that many experts agree is one of the most beautiful in the world. There are more than 4000 rooms, 18 restaurants, and a trade centre called an emporium. All of this is set against the backdrop of Venetian canals where gondolas sail and gondoliers sing their famous songs. Adelson opened the "Venetian" casino in Macao in 2004. It was the first casino like those in Las Vegas to be built in Asia. He was able to get a permit in May 2006 to build a casino in Singapore, which is likely to open in 2009. It is expected that more than $3 billion will be spent on building it.
"Forbes" says Adelson's wealth is 16.1 billion dollars right now, which puts him at number 14 on the list of the richest people in the world.
Kirk Kerkorian
This person in the gambling business is, without a doubt, the most experienced and knowledgeable. He is one of the "fathers of Las Vegas" and a living legend. Kirk was born in Fresno, California, in 1917. His parents were Armenian immigrants. In his youth, he was very involved in boxing and took part in single fights. At the age of 22, however, he decided to quit sports because he wanted to learn how to fly. During World War II, Kirk joined the British Royal Air Force and learned to fly. When he went back to his home country in 1947, he spent $60,000 to buy a small airline that ran charter flights between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. He left this business only after selling it for 108 million dollars in 1968. Since he goes to Vegas a lot, he knows that it has a lot of potential. In 1962, Kirk bought 80 acres of land on The Strip, near the famous Flamingo Casino. At the time, the land cost him $960 thousand. The investment did not go to waste. Around this time, there was a boom in the gambling industry, and many companies became interested in it. On his land, which he rents out, the famous casino "Caesars Palace" is built. He sells it in 1969 and makes more than $9 million from it.
In 1967, Kirk bought another 82 acres of the "valuable" land and built the International Hotel, which at the time was the biggest hotel in the world. Kirk hires Elvis Presley to give concerts at the hotel so that it will be well-known and draw potential players. He also buys the "Flamingo" casino at that time. In 1970, he sells it to the "Hilton" company. Kirk's life changed a lot in 1973. He spent most of his money to buy the movie studio "MGM" and then built the "MGM Grand" casino-hotel under the name of his new company. It is now the biggest hotel in the world. At the moment, Kirk Kerkorian owns "Tracinda," the company that has the most shares of "MGM Mirage" (casino in Nevada, New Jersey, Macao etc). Kirk's interests are not limited only to gambling industry. He owns 10 percent of "General Motors" shares. All of this makes him number 53 on the Forbes list of the richest people in the world, with a $8.7 billion fortune.
