Exclusive interview in tomorrow’s MDT | Take the risk, says Adelson

Sheldon Adelson, chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., is currently making a visit to Macau before becoming Sands China CEO. In an exclusive interview with MDT/Macau Inc, Adelson lays out his view for the future of Macau, which, he says, should do more of what it is already doing – diversifying into non-gaming industries such as MICE, shopping and entertainment – which is what his company has been doing since the first day he set foot in Macau.
The challenge, Adelson says, is for the other concessionaires to follow his lead and invest more into the diversification of the economy. “We originated non-gaming development,” he says in the interview, which will be published in full in tomorrow’s MDT. “Less than 3% of our floorspace is devoted to gaming. We built a meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions industry here. We built a 15,000-seat arena when no one else would. We put Macau on the map as a shopping destination. Now, everyone else needs to do more. Going forward, no one should be allowed to have more than 5% of their floorspace for gaming.”
Having just released impressive fourth-quarter and annual results, with Ebitda up more than 11% in 2014 – despite the slowdown in gaming revenues in the second half – one might expect Adelson to be gloating about the contribution of non-gaming revenues to the bottom line. But it’s not about vindication, he says. It’s about doing what is right. It’s about taking care of employees, customers, and the community. And it’s about doing business in a moral way – which includes focusing on strengthening regulatory compliance.
When Sands China is finished building out The Parisian in 2016, as well as the St Regis Tower at Sands Cotai Central, the company will have put around USD13bn into the ground here in Macau. The point is not, however, how much that is, but what it has been spent on, Adelson says. “We don’t believe the tourism industry is going to stop here. We believe the cycle will turn, and the business will come back. It’s all about how much risk one is prepared to take [on that assumption]. Some people don’t like to take risk. I do. I took the risk back when Cotai was nothing.” AL