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Casino king Sheldon Adelson is the 23rd-richest person in the world.Getty Images

When casino magnate Sheldon Adelson decided to build a string of resorts in Macau in 2002, his competitors were skeptical. “Everyone else in the gambling industry thought it was the dumbest idea ever,” Adelson told Forbes. “Now all the naysayers would cut off their right arm to get a piece of land there. I’ve got a warehouse full of arms, and a couple of left ones, too.”

Nearly two decades later, the gamble is still paying off. The 85-year-old chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp. gained $2.2 billion in seven days due to robust gaming revenue in Macau boosting the company’s stock. Las Vegas Sands’ share price rose 8.8% in the week through April 4. Adelson, who owns more than half of the gambling empire, is now worth $38.1 billion, making him the 23rd-richest person of the world. This is a $6.3 billion increase since the beginning of 2019.

After two years of double-digit growth through 2018, Macau casino revenue has dipped due to China’s economic slowdown, but March revenue reached $3.2 billion, a $60 million increase from February. The figures released by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau reflected a mere 0.4% drop year-over-year and met analysts’ expectations of flat growth to a decline of 6%. Las Vegas Sands’ operations in Macau accounted for 62% of the Sin City-based company’s $13.73 billion revenue in 2018.

Adelson is currently undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but the side effects have not prevented him from fulfilling his duties, according to a statement released in late February. The cancer diagnosis isn’t slowing down Las Vegas Sands, which recently announced a $3.3 billion development deal with the Singapore government to expand its Marina Bay Sands resort. The plans include building a 15,000-seat arena and a 1,000-suite luxury hotel tower as well as adding 1,000 gaming machines to the casino floor. Since opening in 2010, Marina Bay Sands has attracted more than 330 million visitors.

Elaine Wynn testified to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission this week.Boston Globe via Getty Images

The Macau figures improved casino stocks across the board. The share price of Wynn Resorts increased by 18.8%, lifting the net worth of Elaine Wynn, the casino company’s cofounder, by just over $200 million to $2.3 billion. Nearly 75% of Wynn Resorts’ $6.72 billion revenue in 2018 was attributed to its Macau operations. Dubbed the “Queen of Las Vegas,” the 76-year-old is one of America’s richest self-made women.

Wynn became the largest shareholder of Wynn Resorts in March 2018 after her ex-husband and cofounder Steve Wynn cashed out and stepped down as CEO amid sexual misconduct allegations, which he has denied. Wynn Resorts stock hit $200 per share before the Wall Street Journal published an explosive report of the allegations in late January 2018. It’s now trading at approximately $140.

Despite the stock uptick, this has been a turbulent week for Elaine Wynn. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission held a three-day hearing to determine whether the company gets to keep a gaming license for a $2.6 billion resort near Boston slated to open this June. The gaming commission’s investigation found that Wynn’s top brass concealed and failed to act on the allegations against Steve Wynn for years.

“The significant changes in leadership, policies, structure, and internal controls at the Company do not erase the fact that the corporate failures revealed in this investigation are significant, repetitive, and reflective of the Company’s historical governance practices,” reads the 209-page report released by the commission. Investigators slammed Wynn Resorts for failing to disclose, while vying for the license in 2013, that Steve Wynn had paid a $7.5 million settlement to a female employee who alleged he raped her, which he denies.

At the hearing, Elaine Wynn testified that she had reported the settlement to Kim Sinatra, the company’s then-general counsel, in 2009, fulfilling her obligation as a board member. (Sinatra disputes this account). It was also revealed during the hearings that a Wynn executive hired former FBI agents to spy on Elaine Wynn and other employees.

The commission is currently deliberating on Wynn Resorts’ future in Massachusetts.