Some Iconic Names of Real Estate

Let’s try to go through the life & Business history of some of the persons who changed the Real Estate, created a name for themselves and took the Real Estate to the heights where it is today.

1. Donald Trump 

Business Leader, Reality Tycoon, Next USA President, Television Star 

Companies:

-    Chairman & President of Trump Organization;

-    Chairman of Trump Plaza, LLC;

-    Chairman Of Trump Atlantic City Associates

Net Worth: USD 7 Bn.

He got elected as President of USA as Republican Party nominee. Donald Trump is a billionaire Real Estate mogul and television personality.

His Famous Quote:

“Going through tough times is a wonderful thing, and everybody should try it. Once.”

Synopsis

Real Estate developer Donald John Trump was born June 14, 1946, in Queens, New York. In 1971 he became involved in large, profitable building projects in Manhattan. In 1980, he opened the Grand Hyatt, which made him the city's best known and most controversial developer. In 2004 Trump began starring in the hit NBC reality series The Apprentice, which also became an offshoot for The Celebrity Apprentice. In 2015 Trump announced his candidacy for president of the United States and shortly after the first Republican debate became the party's front-runner & got elected as next President of States.

Early Life and Education

Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, in Queens, New York, the fourth of five children of Frederick C. and Mary MacLeod Trump. Frederick Trump was a Builder and Real Estate developer who came to specialize in constructing and operating middle-income apartments in Queens, Staten Island and Brooklyn. Donald was an energetic, assertive child, and his parents sent him to the New York Military Academy at age 13, hoping the discipline of the school would channel his energy in a positive manner. 

Trump did well at the academy, both socially and academically, rising to become a star athlete and student leader by the time he graduated in 1964. He then entered Fordham University and two years later transferred to the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1968 with a degree in economics.

Business Career

Trump began his career at his father's real estate company, Elizabeth Trump and Son, which focused on middle-class rental housing in the New York City, boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Islands. One of Trump's first projects, while he was still in college, was the revitalization of the foreclosed Swifton Village apartment complex in Cincinnati, Ohio, which his father had purchased for $5.7 million in 1962.

Trumps became involved in the project and with a $500,000 investment, turned the 1,200-unit complex's occupancy rate from 34% to 100%. In 1972, the Trump Organization sold Swifton Village for $6.75 million.

In 1971, Trump moved to Manhattan and became involved in larger building projects and used attractive architectural design to win public recognition. Trump initially came to public attention in 1973, when he was accused by the Justice Department of violations of the Fair Housing Act in the operation of 39 buildings.

Trump in turn accused the Justice Department of targeting his company because it was a large one, and to force it to rent to welfare recipients. Trump settled the charges in 1975, saying he was satisfied that the agreement did not "compel the Trump organization to accept persons on welfare as tenants unless as qualified as any other tenant."

Trump made plans to acquire and develop the old Penn Central for $60 million with no money down. Later, with the help of 40-year tax abatement from the New York City government, he turned the bankrupt Commodore Hotel into the Grand Hyatt and created The Trump Organization.

New York City had a plan to build the Javits Convention Center on property for which Trump held a right-to-buy option. Trump estimated his company could have completed the project for $110 million but the city rejected his offer and Trump received a broker's fee on the sale of the property instead.

Repairs on The Wollman Rink in Central Park(built in 1955) were started in 1980 with an expected 2½-year construction schedule but were nowhere near completion by 1986. Trump took over the management of the project, at no cost to the city, and completed it in three months for $1.95 million, which was $750,000 less than the initial budget.

In 1988, Trump acquired the Taj Mahal Casino in a transaction with Merv Griffin and Resort International which led to mounting debt, and by 1989, Trump was unable to meet loan payments. Although he shored up his businesses with additional loans and postponed interest payments, by 1991, increasing debt brought Trump to business bankruptcy. 

Banks and bond holders had lost hundreds of millions of dollars, but opted to restructure the debt. The Taj Mahal Casino emerged from bankruptcy on October 5, 1991, with Trump conceding 50 percent ownership in the casino to the original bondholders in exchange for lowered interest rates on the debt and more time to pay it off. 

He also sold his financially challenged Trump Shuttle Airline and his 282-foot mega yatch, the Trump Princess. The late 1990s saw a resurgence in Trump's financial situation. The will of Trump's father, who died in 1999, divided an estate estimated at $250–$300 million equally among his four surviving children.

In 2001, Donald Trump completed Trump World Tower a 72-story residential tower across from the UN Headquarters. Also, he began construction on Trump Palace, a multi-building development along Hudson River.

Trump owns commercial space in Trump International Hotel & Tower, a 44-story mixed-use (hotel and Condominium) tower on Columbus Circle. Trump owns several million square feet of prime Manhattan real estate.

Without personal capital investment, Trump has licensed his name and image for the development of many real estate projects, including  Trump International Hotel & Towers in- Honolulu, Chicago & Toronto and Trump Tower- Tampa. At least two Trump-branded real estate projects have gone into foreclosure.

In 2015, Forbes estimated his net worth at $4 billion. In June 2015, Business Insider published a June 30, 2014, financial statement supplied by Trump. The statement reflects his net worth as $8.7 billion. Of that amount, $3.3 billion is represented by "Real Estate Licensing Deals, Brand and Branded Developments", described by Business Insider as "basically [implying] that Trump values his character at $3.3 billion." 

In July 2015, the Federal election regulators released new details of his wealth and financial holdings when he became a Republican presidential candidate.

Business ventures and investments

The Trump Organization owns, operates, develops and invests in real estate around the world such as Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago.

Trump branding and licensing

Beyond his traditional ventures in the real estate, hospitality, and entertainment industries, Trump has established the Trump name and brand in other industries and products.

With mixed success, Trump has marketed his name on a large number of products, including Trump Mortgage(2006–2007), Trump Sales and Leasing (residential sales), Trump Restaurants (located in Trump Tower and consisting of Trump Buffet, Trump Catering, Trump Ice Cream Parlor, and Trump Bar), Go Trump (a 2006–2007 online travel website), Donald J. Trump Signature Collection (a line of menswear, men's accessories, and watches), Donald J. Trump: The Fragrance (2004), Trump Magazine (2007–2009), Trump Golf, Trump Chocolate, Trump home (home furnishings), Trump Productions (a television production company), etc. to name some.

Many developers pay Trump to market their properties and to be the public face for their projects. For that reason, Trump does not own many of the buildings that display his name.

According to Forbes, this portion of Trump's empire, actually run by his children, is by far his most valuable, having a $562 million valuation. According to Forbes, there are 33 licensing projects under development including seven "condo hotels" (the seven Trump International Hotel and Tower developments).

Stock market investments

According to a 2015 campaign claim, Trump made a rare foray into the stock market in 2011 after facing poor returns on bank deposits and being disappointed with the depressed American real estate market.

Trump stated that he wasn't enthusiastic to be a stock market investor, but that prime real estate at good prices was hard to find. Trump said he earned a $27 million profit, with 40 of the 45 stocks purchased generating a profit.

Ups and Downs of Business

Expanding his empire to the south, around this time Trump developed a condominium project in West Palm Beach, Florida, and in 1989 he branched out to purchase the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle for $365 million, which he later renamed the Trump Shuttle. In January 1990, Trump flew to Los Angeles to unveil a plan to build a $1 billion commercial and residential project featuring a 125-story office building.

It was in 1990, however, that the real estate market declined, reducing the value of and income from Trump's empire; his own net worth plummeted from an estimated $1.7 billion to $500 million.

The Trump Organization required a massive infusion of loans to keep it from collapsing, a situation which raised questions as to whether the corporation could survive bankruptcy. Some observers saw Trump's decline as symbolic of many of the business, economic and social excesses that had arisen in the 1980s.But Donald Trump climbed back from nearly $900 million in the red to a reported worth of close to $2 billion by 1997.

2.Mohamed Alabbar,Chairman : Emaar Group

Mohamed Alabbar  is the founder and chairman of Emaar Properties, one of the largest real estate development companies in the Middle East and known for developing the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. He is also former director general of the Dubai Department of Economical Development.

Alabbar is a Board Member of Abu Dhabi-based Eagle Hills, and he also acts as a top adviser to Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rahid Al Maktoum, the leader of Dubai.

Early life and education

Mohamed Alabbar was born in Dubai and is the eldest of 12 children. Alabbar's father was a captain of a traditional trading vessel known as a dhow and raised his children in the Rashidiya area of Dubai. In the 1970s, Alabbar received a government scholarship to study finance and business administration from The Albers School of Business and Economics at Seattle University.

Alabbar graduated from Seattle University in 1981 with a degree in business administration. He also received an honorary doctoral degree in humanities from his alma mater in 2007 and serves on its Board of Trustees.

Career

After college, Alabbar's first job was with the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates as a banking manager. Later, Alabbar relocated to Singapore and began working for the Dubai government as the director of Al Khaleej Investments, a government-owned company in Dubai with significant real estate interests in Singapore.

Political career

In 1992, Alabbar returned to Dubai and began working for the government as the founding director general of the Department of Economic Development (DED). Alabbar's career led him to establish a close relationship with Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rahid Al Maktoum , the Ruler of Dubai, and he later became one of Sheikh Mohammed's chief economic advisers.

Alabbar worked with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to drive the development and growth of both Dubai's tourism industry and global reputation. In 1996, Alabbar initiated and organized the Dubai Shopping Festival which attracted over two million visitors for an entertainment and shopping event highlighted by street bazaars, fashion shows, food festivals, folklore and more. That same year, Alabbar was selected by Advertisisng Age as one of their International Marketing Superstars of the year.

Business career

Alabbar has served as a member of the Dubai Executive Council and the Dubai Economic Council. As vice chairman of Dubai Aluminum Company (DUBAL), Alabbar has contributed to the growth of the country's non-oil sector. He also served as vice chairman of Dubai World Trade Center and chairman of Dubai Cable Company.

Alabbar spearheads several business entities in the UAE and in overseas markets. Apart from being the founder and chairman of Emaar Properties, he is the founder and chairman of Africa Middle East Resources (AMER), a private company that works to unlock the value of natural resource opportunities in Africa and link them with large consumer markets in Asia.

Alabbar is the chairman of Tradewinds Corporation, a premier leisure and hospitality owner-operator in Malaysia, focused on developing world-class real estate developments in the country and Southeast Asia. He is also a board member of Eagle Hills, a UAE-based real estate development company focused on large-scale projects in high-growth international markets, and also serves on the board of Manara Developments in Bahrain.

He is the founder and major shareholder of RSH, the leading Singapore-based pan-Asian marketer, distributor and retailer of international fashion and lifestyle brands. Alabbar also sits on the board of Noor Investment Group, an affiliate of Dubai Group, the leading diversified financial company of Dubai Holding.

In March 2015, Capital City Partners, a real estate investment fund led by Alabbar, announced plans to build a new capital in Egypt. Also in 2015, Alabbar, who sits on the board of Eagle Hills, announced plans to develop the largest mall in the Balkans in Belgrade.

Alabbar took the company public in 1997 and in 2000, Emaar was listed on the Dubai Financial Market. By 2004, Alabbar was expanding the company to foreign markets with the establishment of Emaar International LLC. The company has ongoing projects in Africa, Asia, North America, and throughout the Middle East.

In 2005, Alabbar facilitated a partnership with Giorgio Armani and established Emaar Hotels & Resorts LLC in an exclusive deal to launch a collection of luxury hotels in the designer brand's name. Following the opening of The Dubai Mall in 2008, Burj Khalifa was inaugurated two years later in 2010. Her continues to expand the company, and in 2014, Emaar listed its shopping malls & retail business, Emaar Malls Group on the Dubai Financial Market with one of the largest IPOs in the region.

In 2014, Gulf Business recognized Alabbar with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his work with Emaar and the development of iconic buildings and communities in the UAE and other countries.

3.Kushal Pal Singh

-  He is Founder of DLF Ltd, one of the Largest Real Estate Development Firms in India.   Valuation of Company 3.4 Bn. USD.

A real estate magnate, known for being India's largest Real Estate developer was born on August 15, 1931, in Bulandshehar, Uttar Pradesh. He grew up to establish and head DLF Limited, as the chairman and CEO of the company.

Personal background

He comes from a Jat family of successful landlords and lawyers. He is a graduate in science from Meerut College, Uttar Pradesh. For pursuing higher education in Aeronautical Engineering, he went to UK, and subsequently got selected in the Indian Army, by British Officers Services Selection Board, UK.

Thereafter, he joined The Indian Military Academy at Dehradun and was, consequently commissioned into a renowned cavalry regiment of The Indian Army, 'The Deccan Horse'.

He left the army, and joined his father-in-law, Chaudhary Raghvender Singh, who is the founder of the DLF group. In 1960, he joined American Universal Electric Company, which was a joint venture between Universal electric Company of Owosso, Michigan and the Singh family.

Along the line, he promoted another company; Willard India limited, in collaboration with ESB inc of Philadelphia for the manufacture of automatic and industrial batteries in India, and consequently, became its Managing director. In 1979, American Universal Company merged with DLF Universal Limited, placing Kushal on the post of the Managing Director of this new company. K.P Singh is married and is a father to three children. His son, Rajiv, and daughter, Pia are supposed to take care of his property business operations after him.

Chaudhary Raghvender Singh, his father-in-law, shares close ties with him. His father-in law, himself has done infrastructural wonders to various areas in South Delhi, such as South Extension and Greater Kailash, to name a few But the family in general, maintains a low public profile. 

Bold: Virtues

The key man, behind DLF, who has successfully converted Gurgaon, as The Millennium City or The Shopping Mall Capital of India, enjoys a deep passion for Golf.

He differs in his ideas of philanthropy, believing that "The concept of philanthropy is really good, but for that people in our country, first need to create wealth themselves".

His contribution in transforming Gurgaon into a world renowned hub within a decade is practically unforgettable.

His Career

As the director of the new merger company, in 1979, he set out on an ambitious plan to develop property in the rural state of Haryana. He had huge ideas of buying land in the small township of Gurgaon, and envisioned the advantages of Gurgaon's close proximity to the metropolis of New Delhi.

An entrepreneur, K P Singh, could see great scope for real estate development in Gurgaon, and his far-fetched futuristic ideas, paid him well, transforming him into a real-estate business tycoon. As time went by, his dreams turned into realities and plans got executed into action. Gurgaon transformed into India's leading real estate destinations and a hub of business activity. Today, it is commonly referred to as, Millennium City. 

Awards and Achievements won by Kushal Pal Singh

He holds many key positions in regulatory bodies, including the post of the president of the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry India and also of the PHD chamber of Commerce and industry.

Currently, Singh also presides over the Central Board, Reserve Bank of India, as its director. He is the director of 31 different private companies engaged in various sectors of the economy.

The prestigious 'Delhi Ratna' award was honored to him for his valuable contribution to Delhi.

DLF Universal- Company Profile

Under Singh's leadership, DLF built and developed DLF city, on the 3000 acre land purchased in Gurgaon.DLF, as a group, played a significant role in attracting a number of MNCs to India, leading to employment generation and international level competition.

It was instrumental in bringing huge brand names to the nation, GE and Nestle, to name a few.

DLF Cyber City in Gurgaon is amongst the biggest integrated technology parks in India, spanning across 125 acres. The only night golf club in India, and one of the top golf clubs in Asia, also attributes its presence to DLF. Recently launched, DLF Emporio Mall in New Delhi stands out as the largest luxury mall of the metropolis. Presently, the company is handling many projects in various cities on a land bank of more than 10,000 acres. Title sponsorship, for the popular Indian Premier League series was also once bagged by this company.

4.Ansal Housing

Company Profile

One of the Premier Real Estate Developers in India and Overseas who have worked relentless for decades, to help build a stronger nation.

Since inception in 1983, Ansal Housing has given a new dimension to Indian infrastructure development. The Company has developed world-class townships, residential complexes, commercial complexes, retail space, hotels and movie-halls that have set new standards in quality and architectural excellence, delivering the best to its customers, stakeholders and investors.

On a Firm Foundation

Ansal Housing & Construction Ltd, stand as the premier company of the 'Ansal Housing Group'. Along with our partner companies. Yearly group turnover exceeds, Rs. 350 crores.

To create an infrastructure organization of the magnitude as Ansal, it takes a highly progressive and professional management team. Company is proud to display its pool of talent that includes experts from diverse fields such as engineering, architecture, construction, information technology, management information system, marketing, finance, exports and other management disciplines.

At Ansal Housing, the most cherished thing is its customer\'s trust, which it has earned with our commitment to quality and innovation.

The Founder

Lala Chiranji Lal Ansal was born on 1st December, 1906, in a modest rural home in Punjab. He started his career as a self appointed school teacher and in a way pioneered the coaching school system in the country. He moved on to become a building contractor, then to a builder himself and finally into a real estate developer of immense repute.

His sheer dedication, hard work and mission to add value to human life, led him to become the founder of the famous House of Ansals, considered one amongst the prestigious building giants of India.

A legend during his own life time, Lalaji is a testimony to what an ordinary Indian with extra ordinary dedication, courage and the spirit of service could achieve through his own Endeavour in his lifetime. He believed in building better life and not just better buildings.

He has left behind a legacy of strong values and a vision, which is today the driving force of Ansal Housing and Construction Limited.

Deepak Ansal: Current Chairman

Company’s basic thrust has been to build townships that would provide quality life to each strata of the society - at locations that are refreshingly away from the din and bustle of the city life, yet within commutable distances.

Ansal Housing has already developed 68 million sq. ft. of area and more than 66 million sq. ft. is under various phases of development. Today, the company is present across 22 cities in India and has created a land bank in excess of 87 million sq. ft.

These lands will be developed into integrated townships with clubhouse and other international facilities. In all, the company has done projects worth approximately Rs. 6000 crores as on 2010.

Board Of Directors

Kushagr Ansal, Whole Time Director

Mr. Kushagr Ansal, an MBA with specialization in Finance from Bentley College, USA, joined the sales and marketing department at Ansal Housing in 2001. He heads the marketing and business development division, in addition to looking after the overseas projects. He has attained state-of-the-art expertise in System Management and is a great source of strength and inspiration to his team members as they successfully choose newer targets.

Karun Ansal, President (Projects)

Mr. Karun Ansal has done his Bachelor of Science, Marketing in May, 2004 from Bentley College, USA and Masters of Business Administration (Finance) from Bentley College, Waltham, USA in 2007.

He has attained state- of- the art expertise in System Management in addition to knowledge of subjects like basic financial markets, equity valuation, mergers & acquisitions, strategic management, sales management, e-commerce etc. During his training and service with Deloitte & Touché LLP and Citizen Bank, a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Scotland, Mr. Ansal got experience in post merger issues, budget analysis, developing and implementation of a financial audit plan, accounting, auditing, Internal control assessment and policy & procedure review.

Ansal Housing & Construction, stand as the premier company of the 'Ansal Housing Group'. Along with partner companies, the company’s yearly group turnover exceeds Rs 350 crore.

To create an infrastructure organization of the magnitude as the company

It takes a highly progressive and professional management team. The company is proud to display the pool of talent that includes experts from diverse fields such as engineering, architecture, construction, information technology, management information system, marketing, finance, exports and other management disciplines.

At Ansal Housing, the most cherished thing is its customer's trust, which the company has earned with its commitment to quality and innovation.

Residential Projects 

Ansal Town Agra , Ansal Town Muzaffarnagar , Ansal Town Indore , Ansal Town Karnal , Ansal Town Meerut , Ansals Courtyard Meerut , Ansals Woodbury Apartments Zirakpur , Ansal Heights Mumbai , Ansals Courtyard Agra , Ansals Tanushree Ghaziabad , Ansal Town Rewari , Ansals Grace Jammu , Ansal Town Alwar , Ansals Palm Court Jhansi , Ansals Elegance Ghaziabad , Perth Paradise Sri Lanka , Ansals Whispering Meadows Mumbai , Ansals Orchid Greens Lucknow , Ansals Suvarna Vilas Shahpur , Ansal Town Yamunanagar.

Commercial Projects 

Ansals Shivam Corporate Suites Ghaziabad,Ansal Plaza Vaishali Ghaziabad, Ansal Plaza Corporate Suites Vaishali Ghaziabad , Ansals Fortune Arcade Noida,  Ansals Corporate Floors Vaishali,Ansals Majestic Tower New Delhi, Ansals Classique Tower New Delhi , Ansals Imperial Tower New Delhi , Ansals Laxmi Deep New Delhi , Ansals Vikas Deep New Delhi , Ansals Pragati Deep New Delhi.

Hospitality Projects

Chancellor Club Lucknow , Chancellor Club Vaishali , Chancellor Club Ghaziabad, Super Stars Noida , The Great Kabab Factory Noida , Marriott Welcome Hotel New Delhi.

Company Financials

Net revenue from operations for the standalone entity increased to Rs. 619.01 Crores from Rs. 435.65 Crores in the previous year registering a growth of 42%. The operating profit (EBITDA) increased by 12.42%, from Rs. 101.25 Crores to Rs.113.83 Crores. The profit after tax for the current year is Rs. 39.02 Crores as against Rs. 38.01 Crores for the year 2013-14.

5.Sheldon Adelson

Chairman & CEO of Las Vegas Sands. He is known as a Casinos & Hotels Magnate. He had a Net Worth of over USD 27.4 Bn. in 2015

Sheldon Gary Adelson (born August 4, 1933) is an American business magnate, investor and philanthropist. He is the chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which owns Marina Bay Sands in Singapore and is the parent company of Venetian Macao Limited which operates The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and Sands Expo & Convention Center.

He also owns the Israeli daily newspaper Israel HaYom. Adelson, a lifelong donor and philanthropist to a variety of causes, founded with his wife's initiative the Adelson Foundation.

As of June 2015, Adelson was listed by Forbes as having a fortune of $28 billion, and as the 18th richest person in the world. He is a major contributor to Republican Party candidates, which has resulted in his gaining significant influence within the party.

Early life and education

Adelson was born into a poor family and grew up in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston Massachusetts, the son of Sarah (née Tonkin) and Arthur Adelson. His family was of Ukrainian Jewish ancestry. His father drove a taxi, and his mother ran a knitting shop.

His Famous Quote

-    "An entrepreneur is born with the mentality to take risks, though there are several important characteristics: courage, faith in yourself, and above all, even when you fail, to learn from failure and get up and try again."

-  “Entrepreneurship is essentially identifying the path that everyone takes; and choosing a different, better way.”

He started his business career at the age of 12, when he borrowed two hundred dollars from his uncle and purchased a license to sell newspapers in Boston. At the age of 16, he had started a candy-vending-machine business. He attended trade school to become a court reporter and subsequently joined the army. Adelson attended City College of New York, but decided to drop out.

He established a business selling toiletry kits after being discharged from the army then started another business named De-Ice-It, which sold a chemical spray to help clear frozen windshields. In the 1960s, he started a charter tours business. He had soon become a millionaire, although by his 30s he had built and lost a fortune twice. Over the course of his business career, Adelson has created over 50 of his own businesses.

Business career

COMDEX

In the late 1970s, Adelson and his partners developed the computer trade show COMDEX, for the computer industry; the first show was in 1979. It was the premier computer trade show through much of the 1980s and 1990s.

In 1995, Adelson and his partners sold the Interface Group Show Division, including the COMDEX shows, to Soft Bank Corporation of Japan for $862 million; Adelson's share was over $500 million.

Sands Casino,Las Vegas, Nevada

In 1988, Adelson and his partners purchased the Sands Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The following year, Adelson and his partners constructed the Sands Expo & Convention Center, then the only privately owned and operated convention center in the U.S.

In 1991, while honeymooning in Venice with his second wife, Miriam, Adelson found the inspiration for a Mega Resort Hotel. He razed the Sands and spent $1.5 billion to construct The Venetian, a Venice-themed resort hotel and casino.

The Venetian opened May 3, 1999. In 2003, The Venetian added the 1,013-suite Venezia tower – giving the hotel 4,049 suites; 18 restaurants and a shopping mall with canals, gondolas and singing gondoliers.

The Cotai Jet, providing rapid transit between Macao and Hong Kong. In August 2007, Adelson opened the $2.4-billion Venetian Macao Resort Hotel on Cotai and announced that he planned to create a massive, concentrated resort area he called the Cotai Strip, after its Las Vegas counterpart.

Adelson said that he planned to open more hotels under brands such as Four Seasons, Sheraton & St. Regis.

His Las Vegas Sands planned to invest $12 billion and build 20,000 hotel rooms on the Cotai Strip by 2010.

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

In the late 2000s, Adelson and the company decided to build a casino resort in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It is one of five stand-alone casinos that were awarded a slots license by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board in 2006.

The casino opened May 22, 2009. Table games began operation on July 18, 2010. The hotel opened May 27, 2011. Adelson said "If we have the opportunity to build an integrated resort, we're going to do it. We think it will attract the customers and the tax revenue to the state of Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley and the cities that are in it."

 

The Venetian Macau, the Sixth Largest Building in World

In 2010, during the late-2000s Global Recession, Adelson told The Wall Street Journal "If it were today, we probably wouldn't have started it."

Macau, China

Adelson spearheaded a major project to bring the Sands name to Macau, the Chinese gambling city that had been a Portuguese colony until December 1999. The one-million-square-foot Sands Macau became the People’s Republic of China’s first Las Vegas-style casino when it opened in May 2004.

He recovered his initial $265-million investment in one year and, because he owns 69% of the stock, he increased his wealth when he took the stock public in December 2004. Since the opening of the Sands Macao, Adelson's personal wealth has multiplied more than fourteen times.

Adelson's company is reportedly under federal investigation over alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act relating to payments made to a Macao lawyer.

Marina Bay, Singapore

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, second most expensive building in world

In May 2006, Adelson's Las Vegas Sands was awarded a hotly contested license to construct a casino resort in Singapore’s Marina Bay. The new casino, Marina Bay Sands, opened in 2010 at a rumored cost of $5.5 billion. It includes a shopping mall, convention center, and 2,500 luxury hotel rooms.

Israeli press

In 2007, Adelson made an unsuccessful bid to purchase the Israel newspaper Maariv. When this failed, he proceeded with parallel plans to publish a free daily newspaper to compete with Israeli, a newspaper he had co-founded in 2006 but had left. 

The first edition of the new newspaper, Israel HaYom, was published on July 30, 2007. On March 31, 2014, Adelson received the go-ahead from a Jerusalem court to purchase Maariv and the conservative newspaper Makor Rishon.

According to a Target Group Index (TGI) survey published in July 2011, Israel HaYom, which unlike all other Israeli newspapers is distributed for free, became the number-one daily newspaper (on weekdays) four years after its inception. 

This survey found that Israel HaYom had a 39.3% weekday readership exposure, Yedioth Ahronoth 37%, Maariv 12.1%, and Haaretz 5.8%. The Yedioth Ahronoth weekend edition was still leading with a 44.3% readership exposure, compared to 31% for the Israel HaYom weekend edition, 14.9% for Maariv, and 6.8% for Haaretz. This trend was already observed by a TGI survey in July 2010.

In 2011, the Israeli press said that Adelson was unhappy with coverage of him on Israeli Channel 10, which alleged that Adelson had acquired a casino license in Las Vegas inappropriately through political connections. The channel apologized after Adelson threatened a lawsuit. This led to the resignations of the news chief, Reudor Benziman; the news editor, Ruti Yuval; and the news anchor, Guy Zohar, who objected to the apology.