Entrepreneurship in The Gaming and Casino Industry
The
Gaming and Casino Industry witnessed a significant decline in the generation of
the billionaires amongst the pool of billionaires from 2000 to 2010. The sector
was too slow in producing billionaires in the light of emerging industries with
new billionaires, though the richest two men of casino industry emerged in the
billionaires list during that period.
The
share of Gaming and Casino billionaires plummeted from 3.6% to 1.2% in the list
of billionaires over a 10 –year period.
Gaming
and Casino billionaires have started to re-emerge between 2010 and
2018, due to a sharp growth in the
number of online gaming billionaires and stable increase
in casino billionaires both from family businesses such as Fertitta members and
also entrepreneurial ventures in gambling related real estate business after a
cast off at the end of 2000s.
They
outpaced overall growth in the number of billionaires from all
industries, today gaming & casino sourced wealthy make up 1.9% of the
billionaires list.
The
richest person in the gaming and casino industry, Sheldon Adelson, has
set quite high entry barriers making it a huge challenge for other
billionaires to claim the top spot. His net worth is almost
double that of the second-runner up. Adelson owns the famous Marina Bay Sands
of Singapore and luxury casino houses in Macau in addition to Las
Vegas gambling venues.
Macau helped
create a fellow casino billionaire, again placed well above the others – Hong
Kong based Lui Che Woo, who tripled his wealth surpassing USD20bln in the last
two years.
Though
the top places of the pyramid are seemingly secure, mid-size
traditional gambling business stories are transformed by the presence and
growth of online players. Korean online gaming
billionaire, Kim Jung-Ju nearly quadrupled his wealth - 6.9bln - within three
years.
The
deep wealth concentration in the industry is the result of risk-taking in a
niche area - combining real estate with gambling in specific
jurisdictions, where the business is about regulated entertainment monopolies
requiring big capital, political connectivity and expertise.
In the
beginning of 2010, a flow of relatively young online gaming
billionaires (average age of 48) appeared in the billionaire lists. Inflow of
young gaming billionaires consequently brought the
average age of the billionaires down almost 15 years and
after 2015 it fluctuated around 60 year old mark. Japanese pachinko tycoons
were the oldest billionaires followed by casino billionaires around the world.
These
billionaires have already placed their succession plans as one can see the
number of inherited billionaires has grown continuously. Today, one out
of five billionaires operating in the gaming and gambling industry is part of a
family business.
Female
billionaires are not well represented, at only 10% overall, which is
approximately the same with the global average of all industries.
Our
analysis also revealed that 13% of the gaming &
gambling billionaires moved to another country to
build or protect their fortunes.
Overall,
the sub-industry looks like the combination of technology, real estate and
manufacturing industries with entertainment industry in the ownership context.
It is a key separation point when it comes to the political affinity of the
billionaires.
Our
previous research showed that the construction and real estate industry is one
of the most connected industries to politics, in which complex regulation,
culture and land affairs play important roles in setting an ownership culture.
All
politically connected billionaires of this industry at a broader sense are
owners of casino businesses featuring the mentioned
thoughts. Another angle shows that 36% of
casino billionaires are politically connected and
that figure places the sub-industry second after the mining and metals
ventures.
· Proportion
of the Gaming and Casino billionaires have increased since 2010 after initially
experiencing a decline;
· US and
South Korea are the countries with the most Gaming and Casino billionaires,
though Japan topped the list in the 2000s;
· Rise of
online gaming billionaires follows an unprecedented pattern, transforming the
face of the industry while bringing tech-savvy billionaires to the list;
· Casino
billionaires top the wealth pyramid by a huge margin;
· Average
age of the billionaires became 15 years younger
· One
family business billionaire has emerged every year from 2010 from operating in
the Gaming and Casino industry;
· Casino
billionaires are more active in politics than their peers;
· Divorce
rates of Gaming & Casino billionaires are relatively higher than the global
average
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Authors: Fakhri Ahmadov, Nadir Bakhisov and Zulfiyya Valiyeva | [email protected]