"titans of the table" -- i traveled to what many consider the las vegas of the east, macau. small territory on the southern chinese coast raked in an unbelievable $45 billion in revenue last year. seven times more than vegas. there is a race to control all that money. >> did you ever think macau would surpass las vegas by that much? >> the resorts and macau are world-class. we talk about the next generation of people in china

who have become more affluent. >> the siblings have become leaders in the macau casino industry. things to their father, stanley ho. the brother and sister have a combined net worth of $7 billion. for the last decade, they have met some stiff competition from the las vegas billionaire known for constantly betting against the odds. >> they vastly predicted i would not even open. they did not want to believe -- theyebody else could grossly underestimated me. over has a net worth of $35 billion. much of that wealth made on the macau casinos. the race for macau pits billion or against billionaire, all of whom are vying for the attention of the .3 billion chinese to the north. macau is an 11 square-mile

enclave on the southern coast of mainland china. for four centuries, it was an portuguese rule. -- under portuguese rule. in 1962, chinese businessmen stanley ho was the first to usher in a new era of casinos in mcau. -- macau. for decades ho built a gambling empire. today, one of those investors is stanley ho's son. father revolutionize the casino markets 40 years ago in mcau. -- macau. throughout my life it has been about trying to prove myself. >> it was important to you to prove that you could build a company from scratch? >> yes. >> determined to break out of his father's shadow, lawrence partnered up with an australian, himself the son of a famous tycoon, and together -- their

properties give las vegas landmarks a run for their money. >> the city is the ultimate educatedon for urban macau. integrated resort well to -- where tourists come to not only put your chips on the table, but stay at five-star hotels. >> what has less vegas inspired in you or what have the casino moguls there -- how have they helped you along in terms of inspiration for macau? asia, a lot ain people build slowly and are more conservative. when you go to las vegas and see the mega-resorts, 3000 rooms, 5000 rooms -- my philosophy is more along the lines of go big or go home.

having seen that is workable and that was how i can it develop the city of dreams, which is a big vision. oureed to get people and customers something they have not seen before. it is always about being more innovative and bigger and better. >> bigger, better, and what are. -- wetter. ist of lawrence's vision attracting visitors through live performances, including this house of dancing water. ofis the crown jewel of city dreams. five days a week, 3.7 million gallons of water flow through the custom-built stage as actors dance, dive, and dazzle a captivated audience. building it was a huge gamble. it premiered in 2010 in the wake of the financial crisis. >> we went ahead and continue to million. $250

it has been a huge success. the fact that we try these new things that nobody wants to try has really given us an edge. business beginning, was far from booming. lawrence's first casino opened with disappointing results here results. the tables quickly turned, and last year revenue caught an incredible $5 billion. >> are you surprised by how fast it has grown and developed? it is the growth of the middle income earning bracket. an age where they would like to enjoy life. think macauver would surpass las vegas by that much? >> ultimately, if you look at

geographically -- a lot of our customers prefer things closer. arerts in macau world-class. it makes perfect sense that if you look at macau within the five hour flight time, there's over a billion people. whereas las vegas, if you go from new york to las vegas, that is five hours as well. >> while lawrence is bringing lots of glitz and glam to gambling in macau, sheldon allison says he -- sheldon adelson says he will conquer macau. >> they vastly predicted and wrongly predicted that i would not even open, i would never get it built and if i got it else i would not open and if i opened i would be in bankruptcy immediately. they did not want to believe that somebody else could do better than they did. they grossly underestimated me. >> when we come back, sheldon adelson tells us why he is the real king of macau.

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>> for a man whose business caters to high rollers and big spenders, billionaire shed -- sheldon adelson [inaudible] is far from glamorous. he was born the son of a cab driver in a poor section of boston. conventionan in the business in 1979 when he founded one of the largest technology trade shows in the world. he eventually sold that and other smaller shows for hundreds of millions of dollars. 10 years later, he bought the original las vegas sands hotel only to demolish it and replace it with the venetian. it is the first integrated resort of its kind, hotel, casino, shopping centers, entertainment, and exhibition space. sound familiar? in macau, another venetian

almost exactly like it but with more gaming space. that concept is what adelson said made him stand out among other casino tycoons. andas listening to you speak you mentioned that what you wanted to do is you wanted to build a las vegas in macau. that?me nobody else saw >> i guess that is what visionary is made of. >> people thought you were crazy. >> of course. i have been in dozens of businesses. nobody wants to recognize that doing something different than what people do routinely is viable. -- only way i can do it prove it is to do it and succeed. >> adelson dominated. his first resort was so

successful he made back the initial $265 million investment in just the first year. 30,000 people showed up. we don't know the exact number because as they waited to get in, they knocked the doors down. >> adelson went on to build a a 2900 roomral and venetian. he plans on adding another property to be completed by the end of 2016, bringing his grand total to over 10,000 rooms. if he has his way, visitors would never leave. >> we are now developing enough retail malls of different types. 12, 15,000in 3, 6, hotel rooms and never leave the building.

i will give you a short anecdote. i had a friend from boston that came in with his wife. they came in on thursday. on monday, he said, how is the weather? i said, you have not been out? he said, why would i go out? everything i want is here. >> lawrence ho is talking about shows that are coming in. it is retail, it is restaurants. they are copying you. >> yes they are. they are trying to copy me. he's a nice guy and a gentleman. he has no exhibition and convention space. there is not a city in the world that does not want exhibition space and convention space. >> as many of adelson's peers have noted, it is his very success in macau that has left las vegas in the dust. a point not lost on the billionaire. >> did you ever think macau would surpass las vegas in the way it has? >> yes. when we first applied in macau

in 2002, there was $2.5 billion in gaming revenue. by 2004 when we opened the sands, there was $5.5 billion. >> $5.5 billion? >> right. in two years. the business was there. people were not recognizing it. there were 1.3 billion chinese. >> about 64% of his las vegas sands revenue comes from his macau properties. since opening the sands in 2004, he has expanded into other industries. bringing people from his resorts in hong kong to macau in high-speed boats. >> what i recognized was there

was not enough ferry service. what do i know about the ferry business? what i know about every business when i go into it. zero. but there's not much i cannot learn. i believe this industry in which we operate, the lodging or gaming industry, i believe it is a supply driven industry. if i put those buildings there they will come. >> and they did. >> and they still do. >> when we come back, the battle for market share pits him against the ho family. not just lawrence, but his sister, pansy ho. she tells us how she is trained to keep the gaming industry all in the family. -- trying to keep the gaming industry all in the family. >> my father paved for the foundation for macau today. we carry that torch. ♪

>> sheldon adelson may be trying to conquer macau, but patriarch stanley ho's industry is far from failing. his company, sjm holdings, operates the most casino tables in macau. we spoke with pansy ho, his daughter. she says gaming in macau is still a family business. >> you are the richest woman in hong kong. >> i don't know how they calculate it, but they say so. >> do you feel, and among your own siblings, the fact that you are part of a legendary hong kong family? you have an added responsibility. >> we feel like we have that sense of a legacy. there were 450 years of portuguese presence in macau. my father helped create and pave the foundation for macau today in terms of creating the largest

industry, the gaming industry of 50 years. we would very much want to help grow macau to be something that is more exciting and more important. we definitely carry that torch. >> pansy has a 27% stake in mgm china, which owns the mgm grand macau property. the casino made $3.3 billion in revenue last year. >> you have this partnership with mgm. how is that relationship going? >> it is going very well. this is the moment when we are resting on our laurels, and we have done fantastically well, especially last year. we are now snug in the position where we have formed a strong

professional team, which really oversees the daily operations. we have the time and space to consider long-term perspective strategies for the future. >> of a 30 million visitors who come to macau to roll the dice each year, more than 60% of visitors are from mainland china. hong kong is a one-hour ferry ride. >> what has been surprising is the swiftness with which chinese consumers are changing. in many ways, they are not the type of stereotype that we would have thought about the chinese consumer market, their patterns and behavior. this is a very fluid group of people. they are full of curiosity. their requirements continue to change over time. we can already see that happening during the past seven or eight years. >> pansy ho also runs a company that operates turbo jets, a

high-speed ferry service between macau and hong kong, competing directly with adelson. last year, her ferries transported about 28,000 people a day. >> we have been running the terminals, the ferry terminals. we have a direct experience. we know how to manage and how to commercialize the real estate so it can be of great service to these people. >> that is not how adelson sees it. >> she doesn't like that we are a competitor in the ferries. i can't say that i am the ferry expert of the world, but because she got bitter over the competition, so she has been bitter all this time. >> coming up, the clash of the titans continues as they look beyond macau for the next gambling mecca. ♪

>> the explosion of the casino business in macau has been a huge windfall for this tiny territory and the beijing government. casinos paid the government almost $18 billion in taxes and fees. with great success comes a great amount of squabbling. adelson, a man who is not afraid to wade into conflict, whether it is about israeli rights -- >> there is no such history as the palestinian people. >> or how the gop can take back the white house -- he has seen his share of battles against the ho family. >> there was a meeting of concessionaires. pansy ho was there. not a very congenial environment.

>> she was not nice to you? >> i don't think she was nice to most of the people. she doesn't like that we are competitive in the ferries. i think it is a matter of jealousy. i think they never anticipated that i would succeed. if you go back to when i first opened in 2007 with the venetian, and you look at the clippings, you look at the articles, it was clear they thought i would fail. the day i opened it, we opened at like 6:00 or 7:00, by 7:00 in the morning we had over 14,000 visitors. -- 114,000 visitors. there were 30 million people visiting macau. last year, we got 63 million visitations. how can i get 63 million visitations from 30 million visitors? because 30 million visitors went to one of my four properties twice.

>> it remains to be seen who will claim the crown of macau. but for lawrence ho, sometimes bigger is not always better. some things that happen in vegas should stay in vegas. >> sometimes you lose the experience. sometimes people have to walk for five minutes or 10 minutes just to go to their rooms. asians are not used to that. >> do you understand the chinese tourist naturally more, because you are chinese versus sheldon adelson or steve wynn? >> that is an advantage we would have as well. i was born in hong kong. spent time in hong kong and macau. at the same time was educated in north america. i get a good sense of the best of both worlds.

the formation of melco crown 10 years ago was based on that belief. how do i marry the best of the east with the best of the west? >> it is easy to see the asian touches when you walk around his companies. the dragons. the feng shui that he incorporates into the layout. >> when we first started, it was gold and iron metal bars. it resembled the bamboo, but then feng shui came in and said no, no. it has to be real. >> but adelson, who once called himself the richest jew in the world, says there is no monopoly on culture. >> by vast majority, most of our employees are chinese. my chinese dealers andmy chinese service people interact with chinese customers. what is the difference? >> they would say they know the

people. they are chinese. they know what they want. >> i can't be a successful businessman if i don't respect who and what my customer is. the resorts are a commercial enterprise. the measurement of success is the bottom-line profit. why are we seven times more profitable than each one of them? >> some casino watchers warn there is a bubble of profits forming in macau that is about to burst. fears of a smoking ban and stricter visa rules have investors worried that the inflow of tourists may slow down. but they are doubling down. they are spending $26 billion on new resorts, doubling hotel capacity. they won't stop there. these casino titans want to score big in the rest of asia.

>> japan is the holy grail at this stage. they have pachinkos. pachinkos are slot parlors. but technically you don't win money, you win prizes. very popular. that industry itself is $35 billion. it has a lot of potential. >> with the olympics slated for tokyo in 2020, the casino industry could win big in japan with the worldwide publicity. the government still has to approve. but win, lose, or draw, the titans have already made a killing in macau. ♪

>> here goes nothing. >> we are finding it, we are testing it, we are there as they build it. we are on a quest to show you the most cutting-edge companies on the brink of the future. >> tonight, i will head to mexico to swim with the fish in a giant, mobile floating fish farm called an aqua pod. >> i will check into palomar medical center, the hospital of the future. >> this is a living lab. >> we will take a road trip to volkswagen's super car green factory in america's heartland. >> we are next to a car manufacturer, right? >> that's right. >> "bloomberg brink."