Las Vegas Sands' (LVS, Financial) Sheldon Adelson has been on top of Las Vegas for 28 years, and heās not looking to stop.
The average CEO's term on the Fortune 500 list is 6.9 years. Sheldon Adelson, CEO and chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, has that beat nearly four times over.
Adelson, whose company owns The Venetian, Sands Macao, The Palazzo and many others, has been at the helm of the Las Vegas company for 28 years, half the time of the longest serving CEO in the Fortune 500.
Adelson's time as CEO is a lesson in going big. In the last 28 years, the Sands has become an international power in both gambling and resorts.
If you had invested $1,000 in the Sands when it went public in 2004, it would be worth $1,705.64 today. Adelson has achieved growth through expansion into convention centers, resorts, casinos and into Macau, China.
Adelson, 82, first entered Las Vegas in 1979 with COMDEX at the MGM Grand that was eventually sold to Softbank Corp. (SFTBY) out of Japan. It focused on premier computers and is now one of the largest computer trade shows in the world. Then in 1988, Adelson and his partners purchased the Sands Hotel and Casino. He soon found inspiration to open a Venice-themed property that would become a resort, hotel casino in 1991. By 2007, he had properties both in Las Vegas as well as in Cotai, China and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. In 2007 Adelson took steps to acquire a Israeli newspaper. Adelson also began snapping up the right to build properties in Macau, China.
Then, as masterfully as he had developed the properties, he began turning them into cash machines and even spun off its Macau assets with an IPO in Hong Kong. He tried to sell the company's Sands Bethlehem and in 2008 when the company was struggling, put up $1 billion of his own money to save it.
Las Vegas Sands has done so well, said analyst Bryan Maher at Brean Capital, because "Las Vegas Sands has developed into the best-positioned gaming company to deal with today's industry challenges."Ć
The Venetian and The Palazzo, two luxury hotel and casino properties, remain in Sandsā portfolio of properties. The companyās Asian properties, Sands Macao, The Venetian Macao, Sands Cotai Central and Four Seasons Hotel Macao, made up 21% of Macauās $80 billion casino market, according to Forbes. The Macau Properties has also excelled in a tough market; its EBITDA increased by 7% quarter-over-quarter. Altogether, Las Vegas Sands reported net sales of $11.6 billion for the fiscal year ending in Dec. 31, 2015, down 20% from the previous year.
Considering Adelson's roaring success, plus a personal fortune of $27.6 billion, itās easy to ask why he hasnāt handed over control to someone else. He has said in the Jewish Journal "Why do I need succession planning? Iām very alert, Iām very vibrant. I have no intention to retire."Ć
Adelson's way of thinking has given him the edge through the years.
āI formed an opinion that if I did things differently than the way everybody did it that it would add value to every effort I made,ā he has said.Ć
And in the age of providing value to the customer, itās even more important to create an amazing experience and give them what they want.
Las Vegas Sands properties, for their part, breaks the rules as to how casinos are designed and built. The company designs its properties to meet the needs of convention centers. Instead of trying to get guests on the casino floor, Adelson focuses on meeting the needs of the guests.
"You know I offered Steve Wynn half the Cotai Strip. He said to me, āThatās the stupidest idea Iāve heard of in my lifeā ā almost verbatim," he said. "We donāt have to be Chinese to appeal to the Chinese market."
Adelson isn't done chasing success, even after 28 years on the job. According to Adelson, there are two ways of measuring success: one is the gross income and the other is the EBITDA ā the bottom line. Adelson focuses on the bottom line.Ć
