What Now For Las Vegas Sands

The announcement on Tuesday that billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson had died will send shockwaves through the gaming industry in the US and further afield into China and Singapore.

At the age of 87 years old time was always against the man who founded the World’s largest gaming company but the apparent suddenness of announcing his departure for treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma which he had back in 2019 will be more of the surprise as it came only a week before his passing.

Sheldon Adelson was named as the 15th richest man in the US by Forbes magazine in 2018 with an estimated wealth of $36 billion. The man who would reign over Las Vegas Sands for decades came from humble beginnings, the son of Jewish immigrants he started out in business by selling newspapers on the street corner where he grew up.

Eventually recognising a gap in the market for holding a convention into computers and when that grew larger and larger he wanted more floor space and so entered the world of hospitality eventually then into casinos and hotels.

It is an amazing story of a young Jewish boy who dropped out of college to chase his dream of being a business leader. Little would he have realised when selling newspapers that he would one day become the giant his company became.

His funeral which will take place in Israel shortly will be attended by powerful men, certainly one of them being the Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who Adelson supported for many years in his campaigning.

Another leader which owes much to Adelson is current outgoing US President Donald Trump who Adelson supported with hundreds of millions of dollars in his 2016 Presidential race and also for the 2020 election.

But more now specifically where does Las Vegas Sands now go in direction? Only a few days ago it was reported that the company was now considering entering the online sports betting industry, something Adelson was strongly opposed to.

But with current president and chief operating officer Robert Goldstein assuming responsibilities for the company, will that become permanent now Adelson has died?

The question many observers will now ask is there a plan Sheldon Adelson made before he passed away? Had he decided that Goldstein should lead the company into the future or is there a new leader coming in?

Another question that will now be asked is what happens to the majority shareholding of its founder?

Miriam Adelson who married Sheldon back in 1991 is an Israeli-American political donor, she also is editor in chief of a Jewish focused newspaper. She is much more focused on charity efforts than business, so would she consider eventually selling the controlling interest in her husband’s businesses? Between the couple they have 5 children and none seems involved within the business so at the age of 75 herself would this be the time to step away from Las Vegas Sands and leave it to a younger generation to take the company forward?

Should that be the case in the coming weeks and months then would this be the time that would see the last major casino operator that has not been involved in the online gambling industry finally push into that lucrative World in the US?

With the passing of its founder Las Vegas Sands is in the midst of a new era, who and which way that company goes will be watched intently over the coming months.