| Sheldon Gary Adelson | |
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Sheldon Gary Adelson is an American casino maganate. Adelson is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., the parent company of Venetian Macao Limited which operates The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sands Expo and Convention Center. Adelson vastly increased his net worth upon the initial public offering of Las Vegas Sands in December 2004. He is currently the 5th wealthiest American and 16th wealthiest person in the world, with a net worth of $23.3 billion.
Adelson was born and grew up in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. He worked as a mortgage broker, investment adviser and financial consultant. He started a business selling toiletry kits, and in the 1960s he started a charter tours business. Adelson went to college at City College of New York but did not complete a degree there.
"Why is it fair that I should be paying a higher percentage of taxes than anyone else?" he once asked. He began making major contributions to the Republican National Committee following clashes with labor unions at his Las Vegas properties.
Adelson divorced his first wife, Sandra, in 1988 and met his current wife, Miriam Ochsorn, an Israeli physician, on a blind date the following year. They were married in 1991.
Awards and honors
- He was presented with the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship by the Woodrow Wilson International Center on March 25, 2008.
- He received the Chairman's Award from the Nevada Policy Research Institute.
- President George W. Bush appointed the Sheldon Gary Adelson to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008.
He owns the Ventian Resort and Casino
in Las Vegas
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