For global investors and entrepreneurs looking for a sure thing, maybe they should look to Macao. In the midst of unprecedented growth, the gambling sector in China is attracting large dollars from casino titans around the world, yet certain individuals seem to be running away with the gold. The gaming hub in China takes place in Macao; the semi-autonomous region of mainland China located about seventy miles from Hong Kong. Las Vegas’ most famous casino tycoons have tried to claim huge stakes here, but none have been as successful as the American-Jewish billionaire Sheldon Adelson, the chairman and largest shareholder of Las Vegas Sands Corporation. For nearly forty years, Macao was ruled by Chinese entrepreneur, Stanley Ho, who enjoyed a government-granted monopoly on all of Macao’s gambling rights. However, the tables are turning in the new millennium; the gates to Macao have opened with a limited number of gaming licenses and Adelson has bolted far ahead of the pack in China’s gambling scene.
Adelson has earned the reputation of a savvy businessman since he began playing the casino business in 1989 when he bought Las Vegas’ old Sand’s Casino and built the largest private convention center in the country. In 1997, he broke ground on the Venetian in Las Vegas to cater to a growing number of businessmen and high-rollers travelling through America’s hottest gambling hub. The venture was so successful that in July 2001 the Vice-Premier of China, Qian Qichen, pushed Adelson to open a Venetian in Macao, as some skeptics thought Adelson was playing a tough hand considering each Chinese national citizen (excluding those in Hong Kong) needs a permit to enter the city in order for the government to control the number of visitors. In May, 2004, the first gamblers entered the Sands Macao. Its construction costs were two hundred and sixty-five million dollars, and Adelson made back his initial investment in a year. In December, 2004, Adelson took Las Vegas Sands public (according to Forbes, he owns sixty-nine per cent of the stock) and became a multibillionaire, overnight. The following year, Macao drew 10.5 million mainland Chinese visitors, a hundred and forty-seven per cent more than three years earlier—reflecting an easing of travel restrictions and an increase in the number of newly wealthy Chinese. By the end of 2006, Macao had become the top gambling center in the world, with gaming revenues exceeding $6.9 billion, a quarter of a billion dollars more than those on the Las Vegas Strip. The ambition and prudence of Adelson came early in his strong relationship with Qian, whose clout among leaders in China gave him the ability to win gaming licenses over Strip rivals such as MGM Mirage, who at the time was a much larger and financially powerful entity. The only other American casino magnate to win a license was Steve Wynn in 2002, but he moved much slower than Adelson and did not complete the Wynn Macao until two years after Sands opened. The success of Las Vegas Sands in China highlights how far the Chinese have come in their movements toward growth and capitalism, not to mention how much room there is to expand. In fact, Adelson plans on creating the “Las Vegas Strip of Asia,” on Cotai, an island linked by adjacent bridges to Macao. Adelson plans to spend roughly ten billion dollars to build a dozen new hotels, twenty thousand rooms, and high-end brands including the Four Seasons; all of the casinos will be owned by Las Vegas Sands. For a guy in the casino business, it doesn’t seem like Adelson is gambling on much – the numbers from China alone speak for themselves.
Adelson has earned the reputation of a savvy businessman since he began playing the casino business in 1989 when he bought Las Vegas’ old Sand’s Casino and built the largest private convention center in the country. In 1997, he broke ground on the Venetian in Las Vegas to cater to a growing number of businessmen and high-rollers travelling through America’s hottest gambling hub. The venture was so successful that in July 2001 the Vice-Premier of China, Qian Qichen, pushed Adelson to open a Venetian in Macao, as some skeptics thought Adelson was playing a tough hand considering each Chinese national citizen (excluding those in Hong Kong) needs a permit to enter the city in order for the government to control the number of visitors. In May, 2004, the first gamblers entered the Sands Macao. Its construction costs were two hundred and sixty-five million dollars, and Adelson made back his initial investment in a year. In December, 2004, Adelson took Las Vegas Sands public (according to Forbes, he owns sixty-nine per cent of the stock) and became a multibillionaire, overnight. The following year, Macao drew 10.5 million mainland Chinese visitors, a hundred and forty-seven per cent more than three years earlier—reflecting an easing of travel restrictions and an increase in the number of newly wealthy Chinese. By the end of 2006, Macao had become the top gambling center in the world, with gaming revenues exceeding $6.9 billion, a quarter of a billion dollars more than those on the Las Vegas Strip. The ambition and prudence of Adelson came early in his strong relationship with Qian, whose clout among leaders in China gave him the ability to win gaming licenses over Strip rivals such as MGM Mirage, who at the time was a much larger and financially powerful entity. The only other American casino magnate to win a license was Steve Wynn in 2002, but he moved much slower than Adelson and did not complete the Wynn Macao until two years after Sands opened. The success of Las Vegas Sands in China highlights how far the Chinese have come in their movements toward growth and capitalism, not to mention how much room there is to expand. In fact, Adelson plans on creating the “Las Vegas Strip of Asia,” on Cotai, an island linked by adjacent bridges to Macao. Adelson plans to spend roughly ten billion dollars to build a dozen new hotels, twenty thousand rooms, and high-end brands including the Four Seasons; all of the casinos will be owned by Las Vegas Sands. For a guy in the casino business, it doesn’t seem like Adelson is gambling on much – the numbers from China alone speak for themselves.
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