Sheldon Adelson, world’s richest casino mogul again

Sheldon Adelson (center)

Sheldon Adelson, chairman of Las Vegas Sands, is the world’s top casino mogul again this year, according to the latest Forbes list, but fell one spot in the rankings to number 21, with an adjusted net worth of USD38.5 billion.

Other Macau notables on this year’s list include gambling magnate Lui Che Woo, who climbed 59 places to come in at joint 50th with a net worth of $5.3 billion.

Further down the list was Pansy Ho, worth an estimated $5.3 billion, and Lawrence Ho who moved 325 spots to reach 965th with an estimated $2.5 billion. Lawmaker and SJM director Angela Leong was placed at 606 worth $3.7 billion.

Meanwhile, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos topped the list, becoming the first $100 billion mogul. But President Donald Trump’s fortune sank during his first year in office despite a surging stock market.

The Bezos milestone, revealed in yesterday’s release of Forbes’ closely watched list, underscores the growing clout of both Bezos and the company that he founded in 1994 as an online bookstore. Forbes’ breakdown provided further evidence that serving as president isn’t the most lucrative job, even when most of the rich are getting richer.

All told, the world now holds more than 2,200 billionaires with a combined fortune of $9.1 trillion, up 18 percent from ago, according to Forbes’ calculations.

Although Trump is part of that elite group, he saw his fortune sink by about $400 million to $3.1 billion during his first year in office. The decline left him as the world’s 766th richest person, more than 200 places lower than his 544th spot on last year’s Forbes list.

Bezos seized the top ranking for the first time and has the added the distinction of becoming the first person to break the $100 billion barrier since Forbes began compiling its list in 1987. As of Feb. 9, Bezos’ wealth stood at $112 billion as of Feb. 9, up from about $73 billion last year, according to Forbes. MDT/AP