Adelson, LVCVA on the same page
This may be the first and only time we’ve seen representatives of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson talking from the same playbook.
In an interview with Bloomberg News Service, Adelson weighed in on comments by President Obama, warning that companies receiving government bailout money can’t make a trip to Las Vegas.
“It’s very anti-stimulus, it’s pro-recessionary, pro-unemployment,” Adelson said. “Insurance and financial services, auto companies, they’re getting a little spooked.”
His remarks mirrored those of Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, the convention authority’s chairman, and other local business leaders.
Adelson has long advocated abolishing the convention authority.
But with Las Vegas Sands controlling some 2.3 million square feet of convention, exhibition and meeting space on the Strip between The Venetian, Palazzo and Sands Expo Center, Adelson is concerned the president’s words might continue to impact travel.
Recently, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Primerica have cancelled Las Vegas events.
Las Vegas Sands is coming off a year that saw its stock price plunge some 95 percent in value and the company was forced into a $2.1 billion capitalization effort to keep it out of bankruptcy. Adelson, a 76-year-old billionaire, fell significantly on the Forbes 400 Richest Americans list and his controlling stake in the casino company was reduced to 51.3 percent.
Part of Adelson’s fortune came from developing and selling the giant Comdex computer tradeshow and he has long advocated Las Vegas as a convention and meeting marketplace.
Adelson, however, may not carry as much weight with Obama as he did with former President George W. Bush.
A staunch financial backer of Republican candidates, Adelson supported John McCain’s bid for president last year.
