Why does Adelson have such an out-size stake? Steve Fischer, the author of the 2005's "When the Mob Ran Vegas" and the upcoming "Showgirls' Stories," said it's about ego and control.
"Sands Corp.is him," Fischer said. "He thinks of Sands Corp. the same way he thinks about himself -- there are no other decision makers."
A shrewd businessman and "a tough cookie," Adelson is still approachable, Fischer said.
He's just, Fischer explained, "a very pleasant man in a $4,000 sport jacket."
But Adelson doesn't just spend a lot on clothes. He's known for making sizable contributions to charitable causes, including to various Jewish organizations, as well as to the Republican Party.
"[W]e remain deeply committed to issues such as drug addiction, medical research, children's education and…important economic policies like free trade and low taxes," Adelson said at a recent reception where he received an award for corporate citizenship by the Washington, D.C.-based Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars.
"When you hear about contributions being made, Sheldon Adelson's name is usually on the list," Fischer said.
The son of a Boston cabdriver, Adelson came from humble beginnings. In interviews, he's joked that he can't describe his life as a rags-to-riches story because his family was too poor to own rags.
An Army veteran, Adelson made part of his fortune in the trade show business. He developed Comdex, which, in the 1990s, was the world's largest computer show. He sold that company in 1995.
He got into the casino business in the late 1980s, when he bought the Las Vegas property housing the Sands Casino, known as a favored haunt of Rat Packers such as Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.
Despite its storied past, the Sands was struggling at the time of Adelson's purchase. It couldn't compete with newer, flashier hotels.
By 1996, Adelson began attacking the Sands' woes: He demolished it. That year, the hotel was imploded to make way for a new hotel and casino complex. Three years and $1.5 billion later, the Venetian opened. Its indoor shops and canals were said to be inspired by Adelson's honeymoon in Venice with his second wife, Miriam.
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