Most Famous People Who Made a Fortune in Casinos

If you had the chance to make your own private investment in a casino enterprise, would you do it? You probably would when you look at the likes of famous people including Sheldon Adelson, Lui Che Woo, and Johan Graf. Also, female entrepreneur and billionaire Denise Coates is on the list for a site most casino players and sports betting enthusiasts in the US will be familiar with. We are talking about Bet365. The brand deservedly secures its place on the best online casinos in the US bestonlinecasino.com comparison list alongside fierce rivals like Borgata and BetMGM.

Miriam Adelson

Miriam is the wife of the late Sheldon Adelson, who climbed to the top of Forbes’s rich list thanks to guts and vision. Some of you may remember that back in 1988, Adelson and his business partners took a risk on the legendary Sands Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas – once a Rat Pack favorite spot. Well, we already know that gamble paid off big time. Soon after, he built the Sands Expo Convention Center next door.

For those of you who have visited Vegas for gambling or sports events, the event was probably in the Expo Center itself. It is one of the very reasons the casino town became a top spot in the US for conventions and trade shows. We bet Mr Adelson makes a fair amount of money from renting the floor space out as well as from the casino itself. Now his wife worth $36.3 billion.

Denise Coates

Denise Coates is the founder and permanent head of the online bookmaker Bet365. If you play online casino games or bet on sports in the US, Bet365 operates a successful enterprise in New Jersey, one of the country’s largest iGaming states.

It is also a popular British brand under the UKGC framework, and we have also found Bet365 casino and sports betting sites available globally via the Malta Gaming Authority licensing. If you have also heard of Canada’s Ontario online gambling market, Bet365 operates here too after gaining its licese from the AGCO’s online licensing authority subsidiary iGaming Ontario.

Coates owns half of the shares in Bet365, and the second part belongs to her brother, John Coates. Denise and John had their own retail betting business, but way back when they decided online gambling was the right way forward. It paid off because Denise Coats is worth around $7.7 billion.

Denise acquired the Bet365.com domain in 2000. At first, things were not going well, and Coates tried to develop a land-based network of bookmakers in parallel. However, you’ll be pleased to know that by 2005 she become one of the most successful female entrepreneurs in the world of gambling thanks to her Bet365’s online success.

Lui Che Woo

On the other side of the world, billionaire Lui Che Woo built his empire in Hong Kong. You may have heard of the casino operator Casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group. The group owns and manages several land-based gambling venues in Macau, including City of Dreams and StarWorld.

This enterprise helped Woo build his net worth, which we are not surprised to see is now approaching $12.2 billion. As you can imagine, Woo ranks among the most wealthy and influential businessmen in the Far East. For decades, he showed sharp business savvy, and even though you might think this guy takes money from gambling and is just another arrogant casino billionaire, you might be surprised to learn he’s also known for his generosity.

Woo appreciates his wealth and shares it by actively donating to many Hong Kong charities. He also guided major educational institutions. His outstanding contributions earned him community honors like the Outstanding Contribution Award and Citizen of Honor.

Johann Graf

If you are a fan of online slots, you have probably played a Novomatic slot machine in a casino or one of the Greentube online slots. One of the brand’s most popular video slot series is Book of Ra, which you can play at US online casinos in Michigan, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, as Greentube has licensed in all four states. To cut to the chase, if you were wondering who the man behind these popular land-based and online gambling brands is, it is Austrian Johann Graf.

You have to take your hat off to this casino tycoon billionaire because he has built a casino gaming empire that spreads globally. He’s now worth over $7.2 billion! Not bad, considering Novomatic started as a small local business. We were also not surprised when we saw that Novomatic rates as the second most successful business in Austria, trailing the mighty Red Bull energy drink brand.

Find out how much each of these billionaire is worth

These four billionaires took a punt on investing in the casino business, and it turns out their savvy ventures have helped them cement their places on the Forbes real-time rich list. You can type in their names and find exactly how much they are worth.

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Tags: Billionaire, Celebrity News, Denise Coates, famous people, Forbes real-time rich list, Johann Graf, Lui Che Woo, Miriam Adelson

About the Author

Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.