Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) reported this morning that one of its subsidiaries has filed an application to list its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The move was widely expected, as LVS CEO Sheldon Adelson said in July that the casino firm was considering an initial public offering (IPO) or sale of its Macau assets.

"No decisions have been made regarding the timing or terms of any such offering or whether the subsidiary will ultimately proceed with such a transaction," reported LVS in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson's fortune has fallen $24 billion since the beginning of 2008 as shares of his Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) have dropped 95% during the year as cost-conscious consumers stay away from luxury casinos. (His fortune has dropped even further over the past two months.)

Adelson is a colorful character, who was a consulting client of mine in the 1980s. A brash guy from the streets of Dorchester -- a tough section of Boston -- Adelson first hit it big by creating Las Vegas-based COMDEX -- what was the biggest high-tech trade show around through much of the 1980s and 1990s.

Even though COMDEX faded from prominence since then, Adelson fell in love with Las Vegas and borrowed heavily to get into the casino business. Now his company holds $10.2 billion of debt on a $2.2 billion sliver of equity, and it lost $52 million over the first nine months of the year.

With the economy tanking and credit markets skittish, it could be hard for Adelson to recover. But he's been in tougher scrapes before.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. Portfolio will publish his book about Boeing, You Can't Order Change: Lessons from Jim McNerney's Turnaround at Boeing, on December 26, 2008. He has no financial interest in Las Vegas Sands securities.

Be sure to check out more Money Losers of 2008.

This post is part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst in Money 2008 feature.

In 2008, many big names took big face plants. Since this is a blog about money, I ranked them based on how much they lost and how far they fell. As you can see, the method is not exactly scientific. Here are the five biggest falls from grace:

1. Richard Fuld, Lehman Brothers. The $639 billion bankruptcy is history's largest so far by a factor of at least six. And Fuld personally lost about $1 billion in his personal holdings of Lehman stock. And the repercussions of letting Lehman fail stretched from money market funds to Iceland. Ouch!
2. Jimmy Cayne, Bear Stearns CEO. Cayne lost plenty of his personal wealth when Bear Stearns stock stumbled. But at least shareholders were able to get out with something when JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) bought it.
3. Eliot Spitzer, New York governor. Spitzer destroyed his once promising political career by spending time with at least one woman other than his wife. He was trying to use his prosecution of Wall Street to boost his political career as Rudy Giuliani did. But his self-destructive urges got the better of him.
4. Sheldon Adelson, CEO, Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS). Adelson, a colorful character who was a consulting client of mine, has lost $30 billion on paper thanks to his excessive debt load and a decline in gambling.
5. Jerry Yang, CEO, Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). Poor Jerry Yang suffered from delusions about his ability to revive his creation. He lost a chance to boost shareholder returns by selling to Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) for $31 a share. With the stock at $11.51, he left big bucks on the table, and the board kicked him out of the big chair.

Let us know which one you would chose as the biggest fall of 2008.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

Share the reasons for your Biggest Fall from Grace pick in the comments, or let us know about any contenders we overlooked. Also be sure to see the rest of the Best & Worst in Money 2008.

As we begin the trek to grandmother's house, it's worth reflecting on what we have to be thankful for. The answer? When it comes to money, most of us have a lot less than we did a year ago. But for those of you who have your health and your families to comfort you, it will cost much less to buy the gasoline to visit than it would have in July. And as you're driving to visit those families -- consider how much less you lost in the last year than the world's 10 biggest losers.

According to the web site, The Business Sheet, those unfortunate people suffered a mind-boggling $176 billion in lost stock market value in the last 12 months. It turns out that 52% of the losses were suffered by three executives based in India. Here they are:

• Anil Ambani - $32.5 billion. Ambani heads Reliance Communications that invested $500 million in Dreamworks earlier this year.
• Lakshmi Mittal - $30.5 billion. Mittal heads ArcelorMittal which has suffered from a decline in the price of steel.
• Mukesh Ambani -$28.2 billion is Anil's brother and controls Reliance Industries, a petrochemical manufacturer.

These are some other folks that make The Business Sheet's list:

• Sheldon Adelson -$30 billion. I did consulting work for Adelson about 22 years ago and he is quite a character. His Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) casino is suffering from the economic slowdown and he's had some trouble with debt.
• Warren Buffett -$13.6 billion. As I posted, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) has had some problems this year.

Where does a business handcuffed by a covenant that caps debt at 7.5 times cash flow go when it needs more money? If it's Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS), it reaches into the bulging pockets of major shareholder and chairman Sheldon Adelson. According to The Wall Street Journal, Adelson has loaned Las Vegas Sands almost half a billion dollars.

The move will allow the company to remain within the covenant of its current $5 billion facility, which is crucial as it looks to raise an additional $2 billion for ongoing projects and refinance a current $3.3 billion loan. Earlier this month, S&P lowered the company's credit rating to B+ from BB-, reflecting weakness in the gaming industry and illiquidity in the company's position.

Traditionally, the large casino-based companies have looked to investment banks for project financing (ouch!) and LVS continues to press forward on plans to build not just in Macau, but other Far East markets such as Singapore and perhaps Taiwan. Even before the current tight money climate in the U.S., though, LVS and other major players in the Far East casino development business have been looking overseas for financing.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS), a leading international developer of multi-use integrated resorts operated by Sheldon Adelson, is recently down $10.62 to $133.97.

• Morgan Stanley said that preliminary Macau gaming revenues are up 55% YoY versus its estimate for 70% and below the Street's estimates.
  
• LVS October option implied volatility of 57 is above its 26-week average of 41 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN) operates Wynn Macau & Wynn Las Vegas.

• WYNN is recently down $13.23 to $152.72.
  
• UBS Warburg downgraded WYNN to Sell from Neutral.
  
• WYNN overall option implied volatility of 54 is above its 26-week average of 43 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS), a leading international developer of multi-use integrated resorts operated by Sheldon Adelson, is recently up $4.42 to $142.73. LVS October option implied volatility of 56 is above its 26-week average of 41 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Belden (NYSE: BDC) designs, manufactures and markets signal transmission solutions for data networking and specialty electronic markets. BDC is recently up $3.74 to $52.03 on overseas takeover chatter. BDC has a market cap of $2.1 billion with June quarterly total revenue of $549 million. BDC call option volume of 1,240 contracts compares to put volume of 193 contracts. BDC October option implied volatility of 47 is above its 26-week average of 37 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) -- volatility elevated. LVS, a leading international developer of multi-use integrated resorts operated by Sheldon Adelson, is recently trading near its all time high. LVS has a market cap of $41.5 billion. Unconfirmed chatter is circulating that LVS could announce a potential secondary stock offering. LVS October option implied volatility of 48 is above its 26-week average of 40 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Build a Bear Workshop (NYSE: BBW) -- volatility elevated into EPS and Strategic Alternatives. BBW, a company providing make-your-own stuffed animal, interactive retail entertainment experience, is recently up 40 cents to $17.44. BBW is expected to report EPS on 10/18. On 9/11, Buckingham Research reiterated its Accumulate rating on BBW and lowered its price target on BBW to $25 from $29. Buckingham Research says, "the company is addressing weakness in the top-line with more frequent introductions of new product and more targeted marketing." BBW announced on 6/28/07 it retained Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) to assist in potential strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value. BBW September option implied volatility of 54 is above its 26-week average of 40 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price risks.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) volatility Elevated into Macao Resort Hotel opening. LVS opened the Venetian Macao Resort Hotel today. Sheldon Adelson, chairman & chief executive officer, said "it is no overstatement to say that the opening of Venetian Macao represents a massive paradigm shift for Macao and the future of tourism development in Asia." Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) says "the scale is enormous and the detail impressive." LVS over all option implied volatility of 44 is above its 26-week average of 39 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Ameristar Casinos (NASDAQ: ASCA) implied volatility Elevated at 43. ASCA, a Las Vegas based gaming and Entertainment Company, is recently down $0.55 to $28.39. ASCA has a market cap of $1.6 billion with long term debt of $878 million. ACSA over all option implied volatility of 43 is above its 26-week average of 37 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price risks.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Last week Microsoft's Bill Gates expressed regret about being the world's richest man. When I read this, I was reminded of the expression, "be careful what you wish for, you might get it."

Before launching into an analysis of how Gates could be toppled from his throne, it's worth noting that I've admired Microsoft and wondered whether it's lost its elbow room. I praised Microsoft's ability to adapt to change in two of my books, The Technology Leaders and Value Leadership. But in the last several years, Microsoft seems to have lost its mojo as I noted in these interviews by Red Herring and The Washington Post.

Here's a surprise. The biggest threat to Gates's top rank on the Forbes 400 comes not from the number two on the list, but from numbers 15 and 16. According to that September 2005 list, Gates's net worth totaled $51 billion. Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett came in second at $49 billion. And he was followed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen ($22.5B), Dell's Michael Dell ($18B) and Oracle's Larry Ellison ($17B). Spots six through 12 were occupied by descendants of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, and heiresses from Cox Enterprises and Fidelity.