Saluting an American Visionary: Sheldon G. Adelson 1933-2021

?The word "visionary" is often tossed about in describing self-made billionaires and entrepreneurs. Yes, All of them had grand ideas. All of them possessed tenacity. And all of them recognized opportunity when they saw it. But the truth is, the "visionary" handle really only belongs to a very few. Sheldon Adelson was a man literally incapable of conceiving small ideas - nor was he interested in small.

by: Richard Roseman

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Sheldon Adelson on two occasions. As a still reasonably young aviation designer, I was invited by his chief of flight-ops for a visit to help with a newly acquired wide-body. But on the morning of the visit, I felt a little nervous. Why would that be unusual? Well, because I had on several prior occasions, stood in front of foreign Heads of State and Royalty - never having felt such anxiety.  So why should my visit with Mr. Adelson be any different? After the meeting, I pondered the question over lunch. Part of it I thought, was that he was a U.S. billionaire and so I therefore naturally knew more about his story. But....that still wasn't quite it. The prior Sultans, Emir's and what have you, indeed occupied humbling surroundings and possessed enormous power, to be sure - but there was a distinction. And then it struck me. Not one of them had done what Sheldon Adelson had. The others had inherited their greatness - their royalty, power and aristocratic standing, handed down via bloodline. 

In stark contrast, I had just taken a meeting with a man that had no such bloodline, no inheritance to a throne. The meeting had taken place in a rather modest suite of offices somewhere in the bowels of a 7000 room hotel complex, arguably the most well-known hotel /casino in the world, dominating the strip in Las Vegas. And it was only one of many like it in Macau, China and elsewhere.  Then there was the Las Vegas Convention Center, the busiest in the U.S. - and the enterprise that started it all on the hallowed ground of the former Sands Hotel. And finally of course, there were the aircraft, by my last count 26 of them, all private of course, all VVIP level and most of them transport category (Boeing or Airbus); an imposing fleet parked neatly on the tarmac at McCarran - and still more sitting wingtip to wingtip in an enormous hangar complex.

And there it was, my answer was staring me in the face. This ONE man (still in his 60s at the time) had amassed it all from essentially nothing. By sheer determination he had catapulted his enormous dreams (dreams he'd never once thought un-accomplishable) into reality - one after another, ignoring impasse and challenge and NEVER accepting the words "it can't be done". Unquestionably, my feelings of nervousness had somehow been rolled into that knowledge - the legendary stories of triumph over challenge that bore his signature, time and again. As I came to realize, my pangs of anxiety had little to do with nervousness, rather about feeling genuinely humbled - humbled by true greatness, as opposed to a crown.

It's funny when you sit in the company of greatness, because on the one hand, they put their pants on one leg at a time, just like you do. They grapple with heath issues as Adelson certainly did - and as we all ultimately must. His unending source of joy came from his wife Miriam, his children Shelley, Mitchell and Gary - again, as do our own with our families. But still there is something that will always separate men like Sheldon Adelson from the rest of us. There's an endless stream of motivational symposiums, books, videos and podcast that all inevitably fail at defining the undefinable -  the reality that no set of qualities or confluence of circumstance will ensure greatness; only that it's rare - and that it's embodied in the few. Sheldon Adelson was inarguably such a man I thought; a man whose accomplishments, family, philanthropies and legacy - would stand alongside other titans of industry and visionaries throughout history.

It was twelve years later when I had a third encounter with Mr. Adelson - well almost. I was generously invited to travel to Monaco aboard one of his aircraft - reputedly his favorite, an Airbus A-340-300; a little 5-bedroom, 4 bath airborne home away from home. As we prepared for the trip, I had hoped for third chance to say hello to Mr A, but it wouldn't happen. On this occasion, he had merely loaned us his aircraft for the trip in order to promote his latest venture, CITADEL Completions LLC, a new world class completion facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana. I travelled with the company's newly appointed directors in order to help promote the new center at the Monaco Yacht Show. Apart from it being an exciting and successful trip, it also turned out to reveal yet another glimpse of Sheldon's remarkable vision.

We had all sat down in the aircraft's main dining cabin for a bite of lunch. At one point, the conversation morphed into a casual debate over the differences and challenges of outfitting large aircraft as opposed to building large hotels. Somewhere in the middle of my chicken Caesar salad, I tossed out what I thought would be my big contribution to the conversation. 

"Say, speaking of hotels" I asked "have you guys seen this incredible new twin-tower hotel in Singapore - the one with surfboard on top?"

It was....well, one of those record-scratch moments. My blundering question returned only a sea of blank stares and awkward expressions. Finally, realizing I really was clueless and not pretending - one of them broke the ice and replied...

"Ah...it's ours - the Marina Bay Sands."

It was more than a little embarrassing to be traveling aboard the private aircraft of one of the undisputed czars of international hospitality - and not have a clue about his most recent and crowning achievement - but there it was. My gaffe was irretrievable. But long after the blood had left my face and they'd graciously (if not humorously) let me off the hook, I was left with the same realization from years before - of the limitless breadth of Sheldon Adelson's imagination, wherewithal and determination. This incredible piece of architecture had captured my imagination from the first time I laid eyes on it - and most certainly that's held true for the rest of the world. It's impossible not to marvel over and inarguably a revolutionary feat of engineering. Constructed in just FIVE years, from ground-breaking to ribbon-cutting - the Marina Bay Sands would be heralded around the world, as one of the most iconic structures on the globe and would prove an enormous financial success - earning a cool $1 Billion a year.

It's undeniable that Sheldon Adelson was a visionary in the truest sense - and with the right stuff to see his dreams through. Was he always an easy man to work for? Not according to some. Demanding? Always. And I can't say I always aligned with his politics - but I respected his convictions in both areas. Experience has taught me that anyone with the drive and intestinal fortitude to accomplish great things - is not trying to win a popularity contest or concerned with being agreed with - nor even liked when for that matter, when it comes to business. Such concession simply goes with the territory.

But respect is quite another matter, and the late Mr. Sheldon Adelson will forever have mine.

Sheldon G. Adelson, an American Visionary. You will be missed!

Sheldon Adelson - and his beloved Miriam