When I learned that Sheldon Adelson had accepted our request to feature him on the cover of our June issue, I was pleased and honored. I have been a big fan of Adelson since the early days of COMDEX, when, at the time, I worked in the events department of a large textile trade association. I was just a young pup back then, in the early ‘80s, and the business of trade shows interested me greatly. On a trip to Las Vegas to meet with the sales staff at one of the casinos, my group was fortunate enough to pick up passes to COMDEX, which wasn’t yet open to the general public. We went in purely for curiosity’s sake, as well as to scout the show for fresh ideas.
The show was impressive. As the personal computing industry was still in its fledgling years, I know that it had to take a lot of backbone to build a show that placed keen focus on this aspect of the technology industry. The timing for the creation of COMDEX was impeccable. Adelson was the founder of COMDEX, the premier computer tradeshow during the ‘80s and ‘90s, and if you studied the journals serving computing, which I did, his name was synonymous with COMDEX. I am sure that the financial return from the show was impressive, but just as impressive to me was the fact that from a strategic business idea, a business institution was born. COMDEX revolutionized the way technology companies showcased their wares, and it became the vehicle for introducing state-of-the-art products and services.
As COMDEX matured, its monetary worth and intrinsic value also matured, presenting opportunity for the show’s creator in two polar directions: divestiture and acquisition. For an entrepreneur with spot-on judgment, the time was right to sell COMDEX. Adelson would take with him the proceeds from the sale, as well as the convention insight gained from the show’s immense success, which pointed to a short supply of hotel rooms in Las Vegas. It was reported that some COMDEX attendees stayed as far out as Primm, 45 miles from the Strip, just to attend. This nuance was certainly not lost on Adelson, who obviously embraced a plan to fulfill the needs of the convention industry and do it with far greater efficiencies than had been done before. For the man who nurtured and promoted the pathway for a technology revolution, the acquisition of the Las Vegas Sands and incorporation of the Sands Expo and Convention Center was a natural entrepreneurial evolution.
Now, years later, firmly and squarely planted in the casino gaming and resort development business, the quintessential entrepreneur leading the Las Vegas Sands has impacted the world in many positive and significant ways. Today, the organization has created some 34,000 jobs, all while providing handsome rewards for investors. In today’s economic climate, that is quite a feat.
There’s much, much more on this spry, strategic and interesting entrepreneur in this month’s feature article, and I know it will enlighten, perhaps surprise and surely encourage our readers. As a bit of an entrepreneur myself, I must congratulate the man who has created entertainment experiences across the globe for all of us to enjoy, and simply offer, “Bravo, Sheldon Adelson, for a job well done!”
Peter E. Mead
Publisher,
Casino Enterprise Management
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