Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING APR 2019 28 IN FOCUS Chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands and Sands China, Sheldon Adelson W hile license re-tendering looms as the most significant issue facing Macau in the coming years, perhaps the starkest reminder yet that a new era awaits the enclave’s gaming industry came during the first few months of 2019 as its two most influential figures, STDM founder Dr Stanley Ho and Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson, suffered major health scares. On 9 February, reports emerged that Dr Ho had been rushed to the emergency room of a Hong Kong hospital after his condition suddenly deteriorated. Those reports, and others claiming he had been visited by numerous family members over the course of the next few days, were later denied by his third wife Ina Chan Un Chan and their daughter Laurinda, with no further updates provided since. Three weeks later, on 1 March, Sands China – the Macau subsidiary of Las Vegas Sands – filed an update in which it revealed that Adelson was dealing with “certain side effects” from medication he is taking to treat non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which had impacted his ability to perform normal work duties. The update followed speculation in the preceding days over Adelson’s health after an LVS lawyer informed a district judge that the company’s Chairman and CEO was unlikely to be fit to testify in a civil lawsuit.