Las Vegas Sands Corporation is an American casino and resort company with corporate headquarters in Paradise, Nevada, United States. Its corporate mission is to create "Integrated Resorts" which feature a combination of gambling, accommodation, retail, and meeting space. The company holds several resorts in Asia, including the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, which opened in 2010. Through its majority-owned subsidiary Sands China, the company owns several properties in Macau, including the Sands Macao, The Londoner Macao, The Venetian Macao, The Plaza Macao, and The Parisian Macao. As of 2020, it is the third-largest casino company worldwide by revenue. History Development on the Las Vegas Strip Entrepreneur Sheldon Adelson and his partners Richard Katzeff, Irwin Chafetz, Ted Cutler, and Jordan Shapiro bought the Sands Hotel and Casino in 1989. Adelson and his partners financed their venture with investments in personal computers and trade shows, founding the computer trade show COMDEX in 1979. They opened the 1.2 million square foot Sands Expo and Convention Center, then the largest privately owned convention facility in the world, across from the hotel in 1990. The Sands Hotel was unable to compete with newer resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and was demolished to make room for The Venetian. Construction of the Venetian began in 1997, funded by Adelson's sale of COMDEX. Modeled on Venice, Italy, it joined the ranks of themed hotels such as Excalibur, New York-New York, and Paris Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. In 2004, Las Vegas Sands, Inc. went public, and its name was changed to the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. Construction on The Palazzo began in 2005.The Palazzo and The Venetian make up the world's largest hotel under one roof, at 7,000 all-suite rooms and 17 million square feet. The 43-story unfinished condominium skyscraper St. Regis Residences at the Venetian Palazzo is on the same campus. Construction halted in 2008 due to company financial issues. The 2008 financial crisis forced Adelson to invest $1 billion of his own capital to keep the Las Vegas Sands in business, much of which the company spent developing event spaces and high-end retail stores in their properties By 2011, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation's main profits came from renting convention space. Expansion into Asia The Corporation soon recognized new commercial opportunities in Asia, specifically in Macau, the only Special Administrative Region of China where gambling is legal. Las Vegas Sands Corporation, along with