Las Vegas Sands' Adelson Aims to Be Richest U.S. Man

"In my entrepreneurial language, it's a no-brainer, ... It's like bringing a blanket to someone on an ice floe, or bringing water to someone in the desert.'' - Sheldon Adelson, dismissing skeptics who say Chinese gamblers aren't interested in the bells and whistles of Las Vegas-style resorts, with their spas, restaurants and shops.

The 73-year-old Adelson, who was named the third richest man in the U.S. last week by Forbes Magazine and controls 69 percent of Las Vegas Sands Corp., has amassed a $20.5 billion fortune developing casinos and the Comdex computer-industry show, has set his sights on becoming the richest man in the U.S. He has a long way to go - he needs to more than double his fortune to catch the No. 2 Warren Buffet first - but he can definitely do it due to the expected high growth rate for the gambling and resort business in Asia. More on this from Bloomberg.com:

Adelson's success may hinge on Las Vegas Sands' investments in Macau, the only region in China where gambling is legal.

The Sands Macau, open only two years, is already outperforming the Venetian, and next year Adelson will open the Venetian Macao as part of a complex of 20,000 hotel rooms and 3 million square feet of retail space on Macau's Cotai Strip. In May, Las Vegas Sands also secured the rights to own and operate the first casino in Singapore.

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