WORLD TOP BILLIONAIRES

Sheldon Gary Adelson (born August 1, 1933) is an American billionaire businessman. He is a property developer and public company CEO based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He 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 by selling just 10% of the shares. With an estimated wealth of US$26.5 bn, he is the United States' third richest person as of 2007. Adelson studied at City College of New York, but did not complete his studies.

On August 28, 2007, Adelson opened the $2.4 billion Venetian Macao Resort Hotel on Cotai and announced a vision to launch a massive, concentrated resort area he calls the Cotai Strip, after its Las Vegas counterpart. Adelson formally stated his plans to open more hotels under brands such as Four Seasons, Sheraton and St. Regis. Ergo, his Las Vegas Sands (which rand the Sands Macao on the Macau peninsula), plans to invest $12 billion and build 20,000 hotel rooms on the Cotai Strip by 2010.

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