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Las Vegas Sands CEO Adelson says Macau gaming market near bottom, sees 2016 turnaround

December 18, 2015 at 12:00 am EST

MACAU (Reuters) - Gambling giant Las Vegas Sands Corp's Chief Executive Sheldon Adelson said on Friday that a long-term slide in Macau's gaming market is close to bottoming out, with a turnaround in sight in 2016 after 18 consecutive months of declines.

"We are at the beginning of the shift in the cycle from a recession-type economy to a bottoming out, and I think the economy and Macau's fortunes will turn around," said Adelson, head of the world's biggest gambling company by market value.

The 82-year-old U.S. billionaire was speaking at a news conference called to mark the formal opening of his new St Regis hotel in the world's largest gambling hub.

Revenue in Macau, the only place in China were casino gambling is legal, has long been squeezed by a combination of slowing economic growth and a broader crackdown on corruption targeting illicit money outflows.

(Reporting by Farah Master; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)

Sheldon Adelson

Sheldon Gary Adelson (pronounced ; born August 4, 1933) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, the parent company of Venetian Macao Limited which operates The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sands Expo and 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 July 2014, Adelson was listed by Forbes as having a fortune of $36.4 billion, and as the 10th richest person in the world.

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.

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 url= | title=The World of Business: The Brass Ring : The New Yorker: | publisher=The New Yorker | date=June 30, 2008 | accessdate=February 7, 2013 | author=Connie Bruck

Source @ Wikipedia

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