When you're the 15th-richest person in the world, people are always going to be after your Lucky Charms.
So it is that Las Vegas Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson finds himself on the witness stand this week, defending his company from a former consultant who alleges he's owed millions from Las Vegas Sands after persuading Chinese government officials to permit Adelson to expand his empire.
But of course, all of that only dates back to 2001 at the earliest. We wanted to take you back to the beginning, and explain how Adelson ended up at the top of the casino world.
We previously alluded to his rise when we ranked him No. 13 on our Horatio Alger Index of most impressive rags-to-riches stories in America.
If you missed that, you'll quickly agree that he's come a long, long way.
Sheldon Adelson came from nothing.
He grew up in Boston during the Great Depression, the son of immigrants. His father was a taxi driver. Along with three other siblings, the family lived in a one-room tenement.
Source: Fortune, Guardian, New Yorker
His first big deal was reportedly buying out a newsstand at age 12.
He still maintains a lifelong interest in newspapers.
He enrolled at City College in the Bronx, but dropped out.
He preferred working, though couldn't hold a steady job: mortgage banking, running a toiletry-packing business for hotels, and operating a charter travel company are just some of the gigs he held.
Source: New York Times
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