Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The source of the wealth of the world’s billionaires can come from anywhere. One of them comes from gambling. Who would have thought, thanks to gambling, a number of people managed to quickly become trillionaires.
Interestingly, it has been noted that the gambling industry has long succeeded in producing the world’s super-rich people. Even though it is known as a world of men, the fact is that the richest person in the world from the gambling industry today is a billionaire woman named Miriam Edelson.
Here are the 10 richest people in the world in the gambling and casino industry in 2022 based on data Forbes:
1. Miriam Adelson and Family
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Photo: Miriam Adelson (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
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Miriam Adelson is the number one richest person in the global gambling industry. She is the wife of Sheldon Adelson, the former CEO and head of the casino company at Las Vegas Sands who died in 2021. According to Forbes, the Israeli-born woman’s net worth is US$27.5 billion or around Rp.429 trillion (assuming an exchange rate of Rp.15,600/US$).
Today, Miriam Edelson owns more than half of the New York Stock Exchange-listed gambling ’empire’, which has casinos in Singapore and Macau.
2. Lui Che Woo
Lui Che Woo is the lead casino operator at Macau’s Galaxy Entertainment Group and property developer K. Wah International Holding. Both companies are officially registered in Hong Kong. Forbes notes that the eighth richest person in Hong Kong has a net worth of US$11.6 billion or around Rp.180 trillion.
3. Karel Komarek
 Photo: Karel Komarek (Forbes.com)Karel Komarek (Forbes.com) |
Initially, this man from the Czech Republic started his business in the oil and gas sector in his home country during the 1990s. However, in 2010 he decided to stop doing business to run his own investment group.
In 2016, this figure with a net worth of US $ 7.7 billion or around Rp. 119 trillion formed the Sazka Group (later renamed Allwyn) and quickly became the owner of the largest lottery in Europe. After that, in January 2022 he took Allwyn public via the SPAC merger.
4. Teddy Sagi
Teddy Sagi founded Playtech, a gambling software developer, in 1999 and built it into a company worth US$700 million or on the London stock exchange. However, in 2016, Sagi sold 12% of Playtech for nearly US$400 million and sold the remainder in November 2018 for US$88 million.
This person, who has a net worth of US$5.6 billion or around Rp.87 trillion, owns 4 companies in AIM London: Playtech, Market Tech, online payment processor SafeCharge and cybersecurity firm Kape.
5. Denise Coates
 Photo: Denise Coates (via REUTERS/BRITAIN – Tags: ROYALS ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS SPORT)Denise Coates (via REUTERS/BRITAIN – Tags: ROYALS ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS SPORT) |
The second richest woman in the world thanks to gambling after Miriam Edelson is Denise Coates with a total wealth of US $ 5.3 billion or around IDR 82 trillion. This wealth was collected by this British woman from the online gambling business through the Bet365 company. He founded the business together with his younger brother John Coates.
This 54-year-old woman has sharp business instincts. He saw the potential of the online gambling business. Eventually Coates bought the Bet365.com domain in 2000 and launched the website in 2001. Today, Coates owns about half of Bet365, which facilitates over US$65 billion in betting value a year.
6.Mark Scheinberg
Mark Scheinberg founded PokerStars with his father, Jesse, and built it into the largest online poker company in the world. Scheinberg, who owned 75% of parent Rational Group’s business at the time, pocketed more than US$3 billion from the sale.
This man with a net worth of US $ 5.3 billion or around IDR 82 trillion helped launch PokerStars in 2001 when he was 28 years old. Scheinberg profited greatly from boom poker that swept the US and the rest of the world. He has invested part of the proceeds in luxury hospitality assets through his real estate investment vehicle, Mohari.
7. Johann Graf
 Photo: REUTERS/Bobby YipEmployees inside a casino prepare for the opening of MGM Cotai in Macau, China, Monday (13/2/2018). (REUTERS/Bobby Yip) |
With a net worth of US$5 billion or around IDR 77 trillion, Johann Graf owns the Novomatic Group, which operates casinos worldwide and also sells slot machines, video poker games and electronic table games. Graf began importing American pinball machines to Austria via Belgium, then became an agent for a British slot machine company.
8. Paul Gauselmann and Family
Paul Gauselmann is one of the people known as the “whale of the entertainment business” in Germany. This man with a total wealth of US$4 billion or around Rp62 trillion founded a company that became known as the Gauselmann Group. He opened the first Merkur amusement arcade in 1974.
The company operates arcades across Europe and manufactures AWP (entertainment with prizes) and SWP (skill with prizes) machines.
9. Gabe Newell
Gabe Newell is the head of Valve Corp. who develop video games. The company found its success through its Half-Line and Portal games. Forbes estimates, this man who has a wealth of US $ 3.9 billion or around Rp. 60 trillion owns at least a quarter of the companies operating in Bellevue, Washington.
10.James Packer
This man from Australia with a total wealth of US $ 3.8 billion or around IDR 59 trillion is the largest shareholder of Crown Resorts, which owns casinos in Australia and London. He took over the business from his late father, Kerry. However, in March 2018 James Packer decided to step down from the boards of Crown Resorts and Consolidated Press.
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(Linda Hasibuan/hsy)