Many even credit Jack Entratter with putting Las Vegas on the Map. His extensive contacts with celebrities and members of the national press kept the Sands and the city in the news. On stage of the famed Copa Room, home of "The Most Beautiful Girls in the World," superstars such as Danny Thomas, Jerry Lewis, Debbie Reynolds, Jimmy Durante, Red Skelton, Wayne Newton, Jack Benny, "The Rat Pack," made regular appearances. The Sands Entertainment History is truly a proud and interesting one.
Following Friedman's death in 1956, Entratter, Cohen & Associates owned and operated the Sands until July 23, 1966, when Howard Hughes purchased it for $15 million. On May 1, 1981, Hughes' Summa Corporation sold the property to the Pratt Corporation, a Texas based company that invested millions in remodeling the Sands interior and exterior.
Two years later, Summa regained control of the hotel. Another change in ownership occurred on February 1, 1988, when Kirk Kerkorian's MGM Grand, Inc., purchased the Sands. After only two months, Kerkorian sold the hotel to its current owner, Las Vegas Sands, Inc. (LVSI), owned by Sheldon G. Adelson and his partners in the same ownership structure as The Interface Group, Inc. (TIG), which it operates in Needham, Massachusetts. Control of the Sands by its new owners took place on April 27, 1989. Headquartered near Boston, TIG, the world's leading producer of trade conferences and exposiitons, founded COMDEX/Fall, held in Las Vegas each year and the largest annual trade show in the U.S. Adelson sold COMDEX for more than $800 million to a Japanese software company in April 1995.
Adelson, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of LVSI and TIG, has expanded the Sands Expo & Convention Center to more than one million square feet since he took control in 1989.
In 1992, the Sands expanded its casino by 15,000 square feet, and constructed two electronic message centers visible from the Strip, one of which is a 112 x 80-foot, 64,000-color sign with live video capabilities.
The Sands finally closed its doors in 1996, with a big bang!
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