42. Sheldon Adelson

Getty Images

42. Sheldon Adelson

Chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands Corp.

2004-08 Giving* $243 million

New to list Adelson, a Las Vegas hotel magnate, runs the Las Vegas Sands Corp., the parent company for the Venetian and Sands resorts in Las Vegas and Macau. Adelson has taken a multi-billion dollar hit to his net worth this year and hasn't been able to fulfill a 2006 pledge to give $200 million a year to Jewish causes. Still, he continues funding Jewish and Israeli benefactors such as Taglit-Birthright Israel, which provides free trips to Israel for young American Jews, and a private Jewish high school in Nevada.

For more, visit the Sheldon Adelson topic on Business Exchange.

*Based on public records and interviews with donors
Data: BusinessWeek, The Chronicle of Philanthropy and the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University