Paul Szydelko
Two men with virtually nothing in common other than their long-term influence on Las Vegas died two days apart earlier this month. One reimagined how the city hosts conventions, and the other elevated entertainment to dazzling new heights.
Hotel-casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, 87, credited with building the weekday meetings and exhibition sector of the Strip's tourism economy, died on Jan. 11 of complications related to treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Illusionist Siegfried Fischbacher, 81, a longtime box office presence with his partner, Roy Horn, died Jan. 13 of pancreatic cancer.
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Adelson was the founder, chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands, which includes the Venetian Resort and Sands Expo in Las Vegas, Marina Bay Sands in Singapore and several Macau properties under its Sands China umbrella.
His Las Vegas career began when he launched the computer trade show Comdex in 1979. He and his business partners purchased the Sands Hotel a decade later and opened the adjacent Sands Expo and Convention Center in 1990.
He demolished the hotel and opened the Venetian Las Vegas in 1999; the Palazzo tower opened next door in 2007. The 63-acre area includes 7,000 hotel rooms, more than 200,000 square feet of casino space and 1.7 million square feet of convention facilities. Las Vegas Sands also owns the land where Madison Square Garden Entertainment Group is building the $1.7 billion, 17,500-seat MSG Sphere.
Adelson's concept of combining meetings and convention spaces with supporting infrastructure has dominated Strip construction in recent years, including Wynn/Encore, Caesars Palace and Resorts World.
Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam. Sheldon Adelson was founder, chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands.
His widow, Miriam Adelson, 75, appears to control Las Vegas Sands' future, wrote Howard Stutz, executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports, in the Nevada Independent. She controls 56.7% of the company's outstanding stock through personal ownership and several family trusts.
Stutz noted that Las Vegas Sands late last year considered selling its Las Vegas Strip gaming and convention operations for $6 billion. Some have speculated a potential buyer could be a real estate investment trust, which would allow Las Vegas Sands to continue operating the Strip properties through a lease agreement and use the proceeds to expand operations in other parts of the country.
Las Vegas Sands has earned plaudits for being among the leading responders to the pandemic. It distributed masks to healthcare workers, developed robust health and safety protocols and even held a mock trade show to demonstrate physical-distancing protocols and sanitization procedures.
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Adelson, a generous philanthropist whose worth was estimated by Forbes last year to be $30 billion, was a polarizing figure because of his monumental contributions to the Republican Party and staunchly conservative views (his family owns the Las Vegas Review-Journal).
Fischbacher, meanwhile, will be remembered for his role in one of the most spectacular shows in the history of the Strip.
Siegfried & Roy, a presence in Las Vegas since the late 1960s, attained their commercial and artistic pinnacle at the Mirage from 1990 to 2003. In 2001, it was estimated that they had performed 5,000 shows at the casino for 10 million fans and had grossed more than $1 billion. When their show ended after a tiger attacked Horn onstage, the theater was converted to house Cirque du Soleil's "The Beatles Love." (Horn died last May of complications from the coronavirus.)
The duo astonished audiences during their lavish shows. Their magic often incorporated white tigers, elephants and snakes and was augmented by smoke machines, lasers and sequined costumes. Their influence on Las Vegas' entertainment landscape endures.
Magicians Roy Horn, left, and Siegfried Fischbacher ruled Vegas entertainment for four decades.
"Siegfried & Roy created the successful business plan of a full-evening Vegas magic show as headliner," magician Penn Jillette told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "If [they] had not done that, there would be no Penn & Teller in Vegas. It's that simple. Yup, our shows were very different, but the business wasn't. They made us headliners."
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak called Fischbacher "a 'Master of the Impossible' and an exemplary Nevadan whose contributions alongside Horn helped shine a bright spotlight on Las Vegas' entertainment industry to the world."
They gained international attention for helping to save rare white tigers and white lions from extinction; Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat continues at the Mirage. The road that stretches from the Strip to the Mirage was renamed Siegfried & Roy Drive in August.
On the shoulders of legends such as Adelson and Siegfried & Roy, Las Vegas continues to innovate as a global tourism destination.
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