The pandemic hasn’t hurt gaming billionaires, and many of them saw their wealth increase. Now Forbes reports that 28 billionaires from the gaming industry have made its richest people list.
660 New Billionaires
According to the 2021 Forbes Richest People in the World list, a new billionaire was minted every 17 hours last year. This astounding money grab resulted in 660 new billionaires being added to the list of global billionaires. There are currently 2,775 billionaires on Earth.
“A record high 493 were new to the list, including 210 from China and Hong Kong,” Forbes reported. “Another 250 who’d fallen off in the past came roaring back. A staggering 86 percent are richer than a year ago.”
The world’s wealthiest people are $5 trillion richer today than a year ago. Once a person breaches the billionaire gap, the wealth seems to grow exponentially with the ship on autopilot.
Trump tax cuts for the wealthy certainly helped the U.S. billionaires as well.
Casino Billionaires
Among the list of familiar names on the gaming billionaire list is Sheldon Adelson. When Sheldon Adelson died in January 2021, his widow, Dr. Miriam Adelson, moved to the top of the gaming billionaire list.
Dr. Adelson’s shares in Las Vegas Sands are estimated at $38.2 billion, placing her at number 36 on the Richest People list. She is also in the top position of casino billionaires as the world’s richest gaming industry stakeholder.
Las Vegas Sands owns casinos in Las Vegas, Singapore, and Macau. The Adelson family fortune grew 42.5% over the past year. Before his death at age 87, Sheldon Adelson planned to sell all of Sands’ Las Vegas properties.
Other notable gaming billionaires on the Forbes list include Bet365 founder and co-CEO Denise Coates, Golden Nugget casino boss Tilman Fertitta, Pansy and Lawrence Ho, Steve Wynn, and James Packer.
Denise Coates of Bet365 is worth $6.5 billion, and Tilman Fertitta ranks at $4.6 billion. The heirs to Stanley Ho’s Macau casino empire, Pansy and Lawrence Ho, are worth $4.3 billion and $2.4 billion each, respectively.
Casino moguls who are no longer in the game, so to speak, also ranked high on the casino billionaire list. Steve Wynn was ousted from his leadership position due to sex scandals, but his stakes in his casino empire sit at $3.2 billion. Australia’s Crown Casino founder, James Packer, lost his CEO position during the Crown casino scandal while sitting on $3.2 billion in shares.
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