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18. Sheldon Adelson
REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
Net worth: $23 billion
Age: 82
Country: US
Industry: Real estate
Source of wealth: Self-made; Las Vegas Sands
The “King of Las Vegas” first hit the jackpot in 1995 when he was 61 and running Computer Dealers’ Exhibition (COMDEX), one of the largest trade shows in Las Vegas. That year, Adelson sold the company to Japan’s Softbank for $860 million and used the cash to finance his purchase of the Sands Casino. He quickly demolished it and in its place built the Venetian Casino Resort and the Sands Expo Convention Center. After further expansion, he took his gambling conglomerate, Las Vegas Sands, public in 2004.
Adelson, a former reporter and mortgage broker and the son of Ukrainian-Jewish immigrants, was hit hard during the financial crisis in 2008, reportedly losing $25 billion and needing to bolster his company’s balance sheet with $1 billion of his own cash. Though the Sands had a rough 2015 — the stock tumbled 25% during the year — his fortune has recovered from the dark days of 2008 and now sits at $23 billion. He still runs the Sands and is CEO of China Sands, a subsidiary that plans to open its fifth casino in Macau this year.
The casino magnate, who owns 13 private jets, is a staunch supporter of the Republican Party, famously donating tens of millions of dollars to past candidates like Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. In late 2015, hepurchased Nevada’s largest newspaper for $140 million.
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