Las Vegas - Sheldon Adelson, the casino mogul, has seen his personal net worth plummet by more than USD 15 billion in recent months as Wall Street investors have grown more bearish about the prospects of casino companies that are pushing aggressively into Asia. That slide might put a crimp in his stated goal of surpassing Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, the only two titans ahead of him on Forbes' recent list of the richest people in the United States.

American billionaire and gaming tycoon Sheldon Adelson said Wednesday he wanted to set up variations of Las Vegas-style strips around the world, with Asia alone having room for several more casinos. "What I'd like to do now is different mini-Las Vegas's, I call them, in different parts of the world," Adelson said after receiving a lifetime achievement award for enterprise at the Forbes Global CEO conference in Singapore.

Macau: With a net worth of USD 20.5 billion, Sheldon Adelson is ranked third on the Forbes list of richest Americans. The 74-year-old chief executive of Las Vegas Sands attributes his rags-to-riches story to making right decisions at the right time. In Macau for the inauguration of the USD 12billion Venetian Macao resort with 3,000 hotel rooms, a 15,000-seat stadium and 350 shops, besides a USD 2.4 billion gaming centre, the gambling tycoon shared with The Times of India his success story.

Hong Kong: Edmund Ho, leader of the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau, has denied reports alleging he has financial interests in the businesses of the region's most powerful casino mogul. The South China Morning Post reported Monday that Ho has held a stake in the Macau casino empire controlled by tycoon Stanley Ho through a Hong Kong company for the past 15 years. The two Hos are not related. Documents filed to the Hong Kong registry of companies said Edmund Ho and his two brothers inherited from their late father a 3.3 percent stake...