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Sheldon Gary Adelson (August 4, 1933 – January 11, 2021) was an American businessman, investor, and political donor. He was the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which founded the Marina Bay Sands luxury resort in Singapore,[2] and the parent company of Venetian Macao Limited, which operated The Venetian Las Vegas and the Sands Expo and Convention Center.[3] He owned the Israeli free daily newspaper Israel Hayom, the Israeli weekly newspaper Makor Rishon, and the American daily newspaper the Las Vegas Review-Journal.[4][5]

Key Information

Adelson created the Adelson Foundation in 2007, a private charity focusing on healthcare and support of Israel and the Jewish people. He was a major contributor to Republican Party candidates[6][7] and was often dubbed a "kingmaker" due to the size and frequency of his donations.[8][9] He was Donald Trump's largest donor in 2016 and 2020, providing the largest donation to Trump's 2016 campaign, his presidential inauguration, his defense fund against the Mueller investigation into Russian interference, and his 2020 campaign.[16] He was also a major backer of Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[17]

In 2020, Forbes listed his net worth as US$29.8 billion.[18]

Early life

[edit]

Adelson was born on August 4, 1933, and grew up in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, the son of Sarah (née Tonkin) and Arthur Adelson.[19] He was Jewish.[20] His father's family was of Ukrainian Jewish and Lithuanian Jewish ancestry.[21] His mother emigrated from England, and Adelson said that his grandfather was a Welsh coal miner.[22] His father was a taxi driver, and his mother ran a knitting shop.[23]

He began his business career at the age of 10 when he borrowed $200 from his uncle and purchased a license to sell newspapers in Boston.[24] In 1948, at the age of 15, he borrowed $10,000 from his uncle to start a candy vending-machine business.[25] He attended the City College of New York, but did not graduate.[26] He attended trade school in a failed attempt to become a court reporter, then joined the United States Army.[27]

After being discharged from the army, he established a business selling toiletry kits, then started another business, De-Ice-It, which marketed a chemical spray that cleared ice from windshields.[27] In the 1960s, he started a charter tour business.[28] He soon became a millionaire, although by his thirties he had built and lost his fortune twice. Over the course of his business career, Adelson created almost 50 businesses, making him a serial entrepreneur.[29]

Business career

[edit]

COMDEX

[edit]

In the late 1970s, Adelson and his partners developed the COMDEX trade shows for the computer industry, beginning in 1979. It was one of the largest computer trade shows in the world through much of the 1980s and 1990s.[28]

In 1995, Adelson and his partners sold the Interface Group Show Division, including the COMDEX shows, to SoftBank Group of Japan for $862 million; Adelson's share was over $500 million.[28]

Sands Casino

[edit]

Las Vegas, Nevada

[edit]
The Palazzo, Las Vegas

In 1988, Adelson purchased the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for $110 million (approximately equivalent to $292,460,000 in 2024).[30] The next year, he and his partners built the Sands Expo and Convention Center, then the only privately owned and operated convention center in the U.S.[31]

In 1991, while honeymooning in Venice with his second wife, Miriam, Adelson came up with the idea for a mega-resort hotel. He razed the Sands and spent $1.5 billion to construct The Venetian, a Venice-themed resort hotel and casino, which opened on May 3, 1999.[32]

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

[edit]

In the late 2000s, Adelson and the company built a casino resort in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It is one of five stand-alone casinos that were awarded a slots license by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board in 2006. The casino opened May 22, 2009.[33]

In 2010, during the Great Recession, Adelson told The Wall Street Journal "If it were today, we probably wouldn't have started it."[34]

In 2019, the Las Vegas Sands Corp. sold the Bethlehem casino for $1.3 billion to Alabama-based Wind Creek Hospitality.[35] The new owner, Wind Creek Hospitality, is owned by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.[36] The casino's new name is the Wind Creek Bethlehem.

Macau

[edit]
The Venetian Macau, the seventh-largest building in the world by floor space

Adelson led a project to bring Las Vegas Sands casinos to Macau. The 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2) Sands Macao became China's first Las Vegas-style casino when it opened in May 2004.[37][38] He recovered his initial $265-million investment in one year and, because he owned 69% of the stock, he increased his wealth when he took the stock public in December 2004. Following the opening of the Sands Macao, Adelson's personal wealth multiplied more than fourteen times.[27]

In August 2007, Adelson opened the $2.4 billion[39] Venetian Macao Resort Hotel on Cotai[40][41] and announced that he planned to create a massive, concentrated resort area he called the Cotai Strip, after its Las Vegas counterpart. Adelson said that he planned to open more hotels under brands such as Four Seasons, Sheraton, and St. Regis. His Las Vegas Sands planned to invest $12 billion and build 20,000 hotel rooms on the Cotai Strip by 2010.[42]

Adelson's company was reportedly under federal investigation over alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act relating to payments made to a Macau lawyer.[43][44] In 2015, Sands agreed to pay a $9 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission,[45] which included no admission of wrongdoing.

Marina Bay, Singapore

[edit]
Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, the twelfth-most expensive building in the world

In May 2006, Adelson's Las Vegas Sands was awarded a hotly contested license to construct a casino resort in Marina Bay, Singapore. The new casino, Marina Bay Sands, opened in 2010 at a rumored cost of $5.5 billion.

In 2010, when it opened, at a total cost of S$8 billion including land cost, the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) Complex of Singapore was the most expensive building in the world, ranking over the new development of World Trade Towers in Manhattan of New York and the Burj Khalifa of Dubai.[46]

MBS Singapore includes stores at "The Shoppes", an ultraluxury indoor Venetian canal-lined exclusive shopping belt with tenants such as Ferrari, Chanel, the Theatre of Marina Bay and Convention Center for Sands Live concert series, multiple swimming pools, a rooftop infinity pool, night clubs in Maison pavilions on newly constructed mini islands, and 2,500 luxury hotel rooms.[46][47][48]

Eurovegas

[edit]
Main article: Eurovegas

In 2012, Adelson proposed a hotel-casino complex in Europe, later narrowing it to Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain. The project was expected to create 250,000 jobs at a time when the Spanish unemployment rate stood at 27%. The project was cancelled in 2013 due to disagreements with the Spanish government over gambling taxes and smoking laws.[49]

Other activities

[edit]

Israeli press

[edit]
The Parisian Macao, a $2.5 billion project

In 2007, Adelson made an unsuccessful bid to purchase the Israeli newspaper Maariv. When this attempt failed, he proceeded with parallel plans to publish a free daily newspaper to compete with Israeli, a newspaper he had co-founded in 2006 but had left.[50] The first edition of the new newspaper, Israel Hayom, was published on July 30, 2007. On March 31, 2014, Adelson received the go-ahead from a Jerusalem court to purchase Maariv and the conservative newspaper Makor Rishon.[51] In 2016, Adelson's attorney announced that he does not own Israel Hayom, but that it is owned by a relative of his.[52]

According to a Target Group Index (TGI) survey published in July 2011, Israel Hayom, which unlike all other Israeli newspapers is distributed for free, became the number-one daily newspaper (on weekdays) four years after its inception.[53] This survey found that Israel Hayom had a 39.3% weekday readership exposure, Yedioth Ahronoth 37%, Maariv 12.1%, and Haaretz 5.8%. The Yedioth Ahronoth weekend edition was still leading with a 44.3% readership exposure, compared to 31% for the Israel Hayom weekend edition, 14.9% for Maariv, and 6.8% for Haaretz. This trend was already observed by a TGI survey in July 2010.[54]

In 2011, the Israeli press said that Adelson was unhappy with the coverage on Israeli Channel 10 alleging he had acquired a casino license in Las Vegas inappropriately through political connections.[55] The channel apologized after Adelson threatened a lawsuit. This led to the resignations of the news chief, Reudor Benziman; the news editor, Ruti Yuval; and the news anchor, Guy Zohar, who objected to the apology.[56] After two months of deliberations, the Israeli Second Authority for Television and Radio ruled that although there were some flaws in the manner in which the apology had been conducted, the decision to apologize had been correct and appropriate.[55]

Las Vegas Review-Journal

[edit]

In December 2015, Adelson purchased the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper. The purchase was made through a limited liability company called News + Media Capital Group LLC and his involvement with the deal was initially kept secret.[57] A week after the purchase was announced, three Review-Journal reporters revealed that the deal had been orchestrated by Adelson's son-in-law Patrick Dumont on Adelson's behalf.[58] Commentators described the $140 million paid for the paper as "lavish" and as a dramatic overpayment, and speculated that the move was a power play to further Adelson's business or political agendas.[59]

Within a few weeks the paper's editor stepped down in a voluntary buyout.[60] In January 2016, a set of editorial principles were drawn up and publicized to ensure the newspaper's independence and to deal with possible conflicts of interest involving Adelson's ownership. In February Craig Moon, a veteran of the Gannett organization, was announced as the new publisher and promptly withdrew those principles from publication. He also began to personally review, edit, and sometimes kill stories about an Adelson-promoted proposal for a new Las Vegas football stadium.[61] In the months since, reporters say that stories about Adelson, and particularly about an ongoing lawsuit involving his business dealings in Macau, have been heavily edited by top management.[62]

Many reporters and editors left the newspaper citing "curtailed editorial freedom, murky business dealings and unethical managers."[63] All three reporters who originally broke the story about Adelson's ownership have left. Longtime columnist John L. Smith, who had often written about Adelson and had been unsuccessfully sued for libel by him, resigned after he was told he could no longer write anything about Adelson.[63]

The Las Vegas Review-Journal was the first major newspaper nationwide to endorse Trump in 2016.[64][65]

U.S. policy on Iran

[edit]

In a panel discussion at Yeshiva University on October 22, 2013, Adelson said that the United States must get tougher on the issue of Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program. He said: "You pick up your cell phone and you call somewhere in Nebraska and you say 'OK, let it go' and so there's an atomic weapon goes over, ballistic missiles in the middle of the desert that doesn't hurt a soul, maybe a couple of rattlesnakes and scorpions or whatever". He explained that, after a show of force and a threat to also drop a nuclear bomb on Tehran, the U.S. should then say: if "You [Iran] want to be peaceful, just reverse it all and we will guarantee that you can have a nuclear power plant for electricity purposes, energy purposes."[66][67] Adelson's spokesman told reporters that Adelson "was obviously not speaking literally" about using an atomic bomb in the desert, and that he was "using hyperbole to make a point that ... actions speak louder than words".[68]

DeLay controversy

[edit]

During the Suen trial, Bill Weidner, the president of Adelson's Las Vegas Sands company, testified about a telephone conversation between Adelson and his friend then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) about a bill proposed by Representative Tom Lantos (D) that would have prevented the U.S. Olympic Committee from voting in favor of the Chinese bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics. A few hours later, DeLay called back and told Adelson he could tell the mayor of Beijing "this bill will never see the light of day". The resolution did not pass. Adelson testified in court that the demise of the resolution "resulted from the press of other legislation, [not from] a deliberate move by DeLay to help his benefactor."[27]

Cannabis

[edit]

Fighting cannabis legalization was a personal passion of Adelson, whose son Mitchell died of an overdose of heroin and cocaine.[69] Mitchell used cocaine and heroin from an early age.[70] Adelson believed cannabis is a gateway drug.[71]

Israeli-American Council

[edit]

At the November 2017 conference of the Israeli-American Council (IAC), Adelson declared that the organization should become primarily a political lobbying group on Israel-related issues. In contrast to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which supports a two-state solution and continued aid to the Palestinians, Adelson charted a course for IAC to oppose both of these positions;[citation needed] Adelson himself opposed a two-state solution.[72] Israeli journalist Chemi Shalev said that IAC had not intended to become a political pressure group and that Adelson had "hijacked" it for his "hard-right agenda".[73]

Internet gambling

[edit]

Adelson fought against internet-based gambling in his later life.[74] Despite the legalization, and acceptance from many Las Vegas casino CEOs, Adelson poured money into candidates wanting to overturn state legislation that legalizes online gambling. In early 2015, Adelson publicly backed a bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The legislation, named the Restore America's Wire Act, was met with mixed reviews by the Republican Party.[75]

Honors

[edit]

Adelson and his wife, Miriam Adelson, were presented with the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution on March 25, 2008.[76]

Adelson received the Chairman's Award from the Nevada Policy Research Institute, a think tank in Las Vegas, for his efforts to advance free market principles in Nevada.[77]

In 2014, Adelson was named to CNBC's list of 200 people who have transformed business over the last 25 years.[78]

Involvement in politics

[edit]
Adelson with Donald Trump in 2019

According to The New Yorker, Adelson began making major contributions to the Republican National Committee following clashes with labor unions at his Las Vegas properties.[27]

The New Yorker article also quoted Shelley Berkley, a Nevada Democratic Party congresswoman, with whom Adelson had a long feud. She worked for him in the 1990s as vice-president of legal and governmental affairs, and said Adelson told her that "old Democrats were with the union and he wanted to break the back of the union, consequently he had to break the back of the Democrats". The Boston Globe said that Adelson "waged some bitter anti-union battles in Las Vegas".[27][79] Berkley is further quoted in The New Yorker article as saying that Adelson "seeks to dominate politics and public policy through the raw power of money".[27]

In February 2012, Adelson told Forbes magazine that he was "against very wealthy people attempting to or influencing elections. But as long as it's doable I'm going to do it. Because I know that guys like Soros have been doing it for years, if not decades. And they stay below the radar by creating a network of corporations to funnel their money. I have my own philosophy and I'm not ashamed of it. I gave the money because there is no other legal way to do it. I don't want to go through ten different corporations to hide my name. I'm proud of what I do and I'm not looking to escape recognition."[80]

In 2005, Adelson and his wife each contributed $250,000 to the second inauguration of George W. Bush.[81][82][83] President George W. Bush appointed the Adelsons to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008.[84]

Adelson was the principal financial backer of Freedom's Watch, a now-defunct political advocacy group founded to counter the influence of George Soros and Democratic-leaning lobby groups such as MoveOn.org. "Almost all" of the $30 million Freedom's Watch spent on the 2008 elections came from Adelson.[85]

In 2010, Adelson donated $1 million to American Solutions for Winning the Future, a political action committee (PAC) supporting Republican former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.[86] In December 2011, during Gingrich's bid for the U.S. presidency, Adelson spoke favorably of controversial remarks Gingrich had made about Palestinians, saying "read the history of those who call themselves Palestinians, and you will hear why Gingrich said recently that the Palestinians are an invented people."[87] Adelson donated to U.S. Senate and House of Representatives candidates.[88]

During the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Adelson first supported Newt Gingrich and then the eventual nominee Mitt Romney.[89] Altogether he spent $92 million supporting losing candidates during the 2012 United States presidential election cycle.[90]

On January 7, 2012, Adelson bolstered Gingrich's then-faltering campaign with a $5-million donation to the pro-Gingrich super PAC Winning Our Future.[91] By the next day, the super PAC had reserved more than $3.4 million in advertising time in the South Carolina primary, which included production and distribution of a half-hour movie that portrayed Gingrich's political rival Mitt Romney as a "predatory corporate raider".[92] On January 23, Adelson's wife, Miriam, contributed an additional $5 million to the same organization with instructions to use it to advance a "pro-Newt message".[93][94] Adelson told Forbes that he was willing to donate as much as $100 million to Gingrich.[95] He also donated $5 million to the right-leaning[96] super PAC Congressional Leadership Fund[97] and over $60,000 to the Republican National Committee.[98]

In June 2012, Adelson donated $10 million to the pro-Romney PAC Restore Our Future.[99] In July, Adelson attended a Romney fundraiser held in Jerusalem.[100] Adelson joined Woody Johnson, John Rakolta, Paul Singer, and several dozen other contributors on the trip.[101] According to Bloomberg Businessweek, as of July Adelson had given Republicans more than $30 million for the 2012 election cycle.[101]

Romney believed that the People's Republic of China should have been pressured to drop its presumptively low fixed exchange rate policy; according to Bloomberg, Adelson would have benefitted financially in U.S. dollar terms through his interest in Chinese casinos if the Chinese yuan were to have appreciated.[102]

Early in 2014, Adelson donated $2.5 million to the Drug Free Florida Committee, the political committee trying to defeat Florida's Right to Medical Marijuana Initiative which would legalize medical cannabis in that state.[103][104] Later in 2014, Adelson donated an additional $1.5 million to the No On 2 campaign. He believed that cannabis is a gateway drug.[71]

According to a 2014 Washington Post report, Adelson's strategy for the 2016 United States presidential election was to support a mainstream candidate capable of winning the presidency. In March 2014 Adelson was set to hold one-on-one chats with possible candidates Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Scott Walker, and John Kasich during the spring meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition held at Adelson's hotel and casino The Venetian Las Vegas.[90] During the December 2015 Republican debate held at that same venue, Adelson held one-on-one meetings with several of the candidates prior to the start of the debate, including front runner Donald Trump.[105] The bidding to become Adelson's favorite, and ultimately receive tens of millions in financial support, was informally called "The Adelson Primary".[106][107] On May 13, 2016, he endorsed Trump for president,[108] and pledged as much as $100 million to support his campaign.[109] Adelson was later described as a Trump partisan.[110]

In October 2016, Adelson donated one million dollars to the campaign against Massachusetts ballot question 4 the Massachusetts Legalization, Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Initiative which legalized marijuana for personal use.[111] Adelson also donated $1,500,000 towards the unsuccessful effort to thwart the 2016 Florida medical Marijuana Legalization Initiative.[112][113]

Adelson sat out the 2016 Republican primaries, with some early indicators at the beginning of 2016 interpreted as showing that Adelson favored Trump.[114] In May 2016, explaining his reasons for officially endorsing Donald Trump's presidential bid, Adelson cited the importance of CEO experience in a presidential nominee.[108]

For the 2018 United States elections, Adelson donated approximately $113 million to the Republican Party through various conservative political action committees.[115]

On January 31, 2019, ABC News reported that Adelson and his wife Miriam had contributed $500,000 to the Patriot Legal Expense Fund Trust, which was set up in 2018 to assist aides of President Trump under investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. The contributions are the Trust's largest to date.[116]

It was estimated Adelson would donate $200 million to Trump and the GOP for the 2020 election cycle.[15] Given a call to Adelson by Trump in early August complaining that Adelson had not done enough for him, there was speculation that the amount of a donation could be affected.[117] On October 15, 2020, Adelson gave $75 million to a Trump PAC, in a late push for reelection.[118] In the second half of October 2020, Adelson and his wife gave a further $35 million to three super-PACs supporting the Republican Party and Trump's re-election.[119] PACs to which the Adelsons donated in the 2020 cycle included Preserve America and the Senate Leadership Fund.[120]

Donations

[edit]
Donald Trump presents the Medal of Freedom to Adelson's wife.

On September 23, 2016, Adelson announced a $25 million donation to Trump's presidential campaign, as part of a $65 million donation to the Republican electoral campaign for 2016. This rendered Adelson by far the biggest donor in either party (Republicans or Democrats) in the 2016 election cycle.[11] It also makes him by far the largest donor to Donald Trump's White House bid.[11] Adelson was the largest donor to Trump's inaugural celebrations, with a $5 million donation to the celebrations.[121]

According to federal records, from 2010 through 2020, Adelson and his wife donated more than $500 million to Republican Party campaigns and super PACs.[122]

Since 2007, the Adelson Family Foundation has made contributions totaling $140 million to Birthright Israel, which finances Jewish youth trips to Israel.[123] He also donated $5 million to the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces in 2014.[124] Adelson donated over $25 million to The Adelson Educational Campus in Las Vegas to build a high school.[125][126] In 2006, Adelson contributed $25 million to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority.[127]

Adelson also funded the private, Boston-based Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation.[128] This foundation initiated the Adelson Program in Neural Repair and Rehabilitation (APNRR) with $7.5 million donated to collaborating researchers at 10 universities.[129]

Personal life

[edit]

Marriages

[edit]
Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, at the 2008 Woodrow Wilson Awards

In the 1970s, Sheldon Adelson lived in Massachusetts with his wife, Sandra, and her three children, Mitchell, Gary, and Shelley,[130] whom Sheldon adopted when they were young.[27] The couple divorced in 1988.[131]

Adelson met Miriam Farbstein Ochshorn, a medical doctor, on a blind date the following year; they married in 1991.[27] She was previously married to a Tel Aviv physician, Dr. Ariel Ochshorn, with whom she had two daughters.[130] Miriam "Miri" Farbstein was born in Mandatory Palestine in 1945, to parents that fled Poland before the Holocaust and settled in the city of Haifa. After earning a Bachelor of Science in microbiology and genetics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a medical degree from Tel Aviv University's Sackler Medical School, she went on to become the chief internist in an emergency room at Tel Aviv's Rokach (Hadassah) Hospital. In 1993, she founded a substance abuse center and research clinic there, and in 2000, the couple opened the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Research Clinic in Las Vegas.[132]

Litigation

[edit]

A June 2008 profile in The New Yorker detailed several controversies involving Adelson. In 2008 Richard Suen, a Hong Kong businessman who had helped Adelson make connections with leading Chinese officials in order to obtain the Macau license, took Adelson to court in Las Vegas alleging he had reneged on his agreement to allow Suen to profit from the venture. Suen won a $43.8 million judgement; in November 2010, the Nevada Supreme Court overturned the judgment and returned the case to the lower court for further consideration.[133] In the 2013 retrial, the jury awarded Suen a verdict for $70 million.[134][135] The judge added another $31.6 million in interest, bringing the total judgment against Adelson to $101.6 million.[136][137] Adelson was in the process of appealing again.[138] Adelson faced another trial over claims by three alleged "middlemen" in the deal who sued for at least $450 million.[27]

In February 2013, the Las Vegas Sands, in a regulatory filing, acknowledged that it had likely violated federal law that prohibits the bribing of foreign officials. Allegedly, Chinese officials were bribed to allow Adelson to build his Macau casino.[139]

Adelson successfully sued the London Daily Mail for libel in 2008. The newspaper had accused him of pursuing "despicable business practices" and having "habitually and corruptly bought political favour". Adelson won the libel case, which was described as "a grave slur on Mr Adelson's personal integrity and business reputation," and he won a judgment of approximately £4 million, which he said he would donate to London's Royal Marsden Hospital.[140]

In August 2012, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), after being threatened with a libel suit, apologized and withdrew two blog posts that claimed Adelson had donated "Chinese prostitution money" to Republicans.[141] Another organization, the National Jewish Democratic Council, posted on their website that Adelson "personally approved" of prostitution at his Macau resorts. Adelson sued for libel, but a federal judge dismissed the suit in September 2013, ordering Adelson to pay the NJDC's legal fees.[142]

Prior to Adelson's death, he had been scheduled to testify in the corruption trial against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[143]

Wealth

[edit]

In 2007, Adelson's estimated wealth was $26.5 billion, making him the third-richest person in the United States according to Forbes,[144] and $26 billion for 2008.[145]

In 2008, the share prices of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. plunged. In November 2008, Las Vegas Sands Corp. announced it might default on bonds that it had outstanding, signaling the potential bankruptcy of the concern.[146] Adelson lost $4 billion in 2008, more than any other American billionaire.[147][148] In 2009, his net worth had declined from approximately $30 billion to $2 billion, a drop of 93%.[149] He told ABC News "So I lost $25 billion. I started out with zero ...[there is] no such thing as fear, not to an entrepreneur. Concern, yes. Fear, no".[150] In the Forbes 2009 world billionaires list, Adelson's ranking dropped to No. 178 with a net worth of $3.4 billion,[151] but by 2011, after his business had recovered, he was ranked as the world's 16th-richest man with a net worth of $23.3 billion.[152]

In 2013, Adelson earned a top ranking on Forbes' Annual "Biggest Winner" List, his dramatic growth a result of the success of his casinos in Macau and Singapore, adding an estimated $15 billion to his net worth during the year.[153] In 2013, Adelson was worth $37.2 billion according to Forbes,[154] and in December 2014, his net worth was $30.4 billion.[155]

Adelson owned a fleet of private jets through Las Vegas Sands.[156][157] On January 2, 2017, Adelson's Airbus A340-500 jet set a record for the Ben Gurion International Airport by making the longest flight ever leaving the airport by flying nonstop to Honolulu, Hawaii, by way of the Arctic Ocean.[158]

Illness and death

[edit]

In 2001, Adelson was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy, which restricted his ability to stand and walk.[159]

On February 28, 2019, Las Vegas Sands announced that Adelson was receiving treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.[160] The news was disclosed after a Sands attorney claimed Adelson was too weak to sit for a deposition in a court case involving Richard Suen. Sands spokesman Ron Reese said the side effects of Adelson's medical treatment had "restricted his availability to travel or keep regular office hours” but had not "prevented him from fulfilling his duties as chairman and CEO" of Las Vegas Sands.[161]

On January 11, 2021, Adelson died at his home in Malibu, California, at the age of 87, after long-term illnesses.[162][163][164]

On January 14, 2021, Adelson's body arrived in Israel.[165] His coffin was draped in U.S. and Israeli flags and was on display at Ben Gurion Airport,[165] where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to pay his respects.[165] Adelson was buried the next day, in a small private ceremony on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem.[1]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Sheldon Adelson

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Sheldon Gary Adelson (August 4, 1933 – January 11, 2021) was an American businessman, casino developer, and conservative political donor who founded the Las Vegas Sands Corporation and pioneered large-scale integrated resorts worldwide. Born to Ukrainian Jewish immigrant parents in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, Adelson rose from poverty through early entrepreneurial efforts, including founding the COMDEX computer trade show in 1979, which he sold in 1995 to fund his entry into the casino industry. In 1988, he acquired the historic Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for $128 million, later demolishing it to construct in 1999, an innovative mega-resort blending hotel, casino, and convention facilities that redefined Las Vegas hospitality. Under his leadership as chairman and CEO, Las Vegas Sands expanded internationally, developing the Venetian Macao in 2007—the largest casino in the world at the time—and the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore in 2010, which featured the iconic SkyPark infinity pool. These ventures propelled the company to generate billions in revenue and elevated Adelson's net worth to approximately $35 billion by 2021, ranking him among the richest individuals globally. Adelson's business philosophy emphasized non-union operations and high-stakes innovation, though it drew labor disputes in Las Vegas. Politically active from the 2010s, he and his wife Miriam Adelson donated over $424 million to Republican candidates and super PACs, including substantial support for Donald Trump's 2016 and 2020 campaigns, prioritizing pro-Israel policies and limited government. His philanthropy through the Adelson Family Foundations funded Jewish causes, drug addiction research, and medical initiatives, reflecting his commitment to community welfare despite criticisms of his political influence. Adelson died from complications related to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma treatment, leaving a legacy of transformative risk-taking in gaming and unapologetic advocacy for his values.

Early Life

Childhood and Family

Sheldon Adelson was born Sheldon Gary Adelson (Hebrew: Sholom Gedaliah) on August 4, 1933, in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, a working-class area during the Great Depression. He was the son of Arthur Adelson, a Lithuanian Jewish immigrant who worked as a taxi driver, and Sarah Adelson (née Tonkin), whose family had roots in Wales and was also part of the Jewish community. The family maintained a Jewish heritage, with Adelson later reflecting on his upbringing in a low-income household where resources were scarce; he described it as "so poor we couldn't afford rags." Adelson grew up in modest circumstances in a one-bedroom home shared with his parents and siblings, including at least one sister, amid the economic hardships of immigrant life in urban . His father's Lithuanian background and the family's Jewish traditions shaped early influences, though specific details on religious observance in childhood remain limited in accounts. The household's instilled a drive for self-reliance, with Adelson later attributing his entrepreneurial mindset to these formative years in a rough neighborhood marked by limited opportunities.

Initial Business Endeavors

Adelson's entrepreneurial activities began in childhood amid financial hardship in Boston. At age 12, he purchased a newsstand license and sold newspapers on street corners, earning a profit of approximately 2 cents per copy after buying them wholesale for 1 cent each. This venture provided his first experience in independent business operations, leveraging low capital to generate income through volume sales. By age 16, Adelson expanded into vending, borrowing $10,000 from family and associates to acquire a chain of candy-dispensing machines placed in public locations. This investment marked his entry into asset-based enterprises requiring maintenance and location negotiations, though it yielded modest returns amid competition and operational challenges. He reportedly cycled through dozens of small ventures in the ensuing years, including investments in real estate and other low-barrier opportunities, often starting with limited personal savings before achieving scale. In the 1960s, Adelson entered the travel sector by launching a charter tour operation, capitalizing on growing demand for group excursions. This business involved coordinating transportation and itineraries, eventually incorporating aircraft such as Lockheed L-1011 jets to serve larger client groups. By the early 1970s, he had amassed stakes in over 50 companies across varied industries, with the tour operations proving among the more stable, though many endeavors resulted in losses due to economic fluctuations and management hurdles. These experiences honed his approach to risk and diversification, setting the foundation for later consolidated efforts under the Interface Group, formed in 1971 via acquisition of a bankrupt publishing firm.

Business Career

COMDEX and Technology Ventures

In the mid-1970s, Sheldon Adelson co-founded the Interface Group in Massachusetts with partners, initially establishing it to publish a trade magazine for the nascent computer industry and later expanding into event organization. As chairman and majority shareholder, Adelson steered the company toward trade shows, recognizing the potential of the emerging personal computer sector amid limited competition from established players. Interface Group launched in December 1979 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, positioning it as a dedicated exposition for , software, and peripherals. The event capitalized on the PC industry's rapid expansion following the release of products like the in 1977 and PC in 1981, drawing exhibitors and attendees seeking networking and product demonstrations in a centralized venue. By the mid-1980s, had established annual fall editions in as a premier global gathering, with supplemental shows in cities like and to broaden reach. COMDEX's scale grew substantially through the and early , becoming a cornerstone for deal-making and product launches amid the shift from mainframes to desktops. Adelson's operational innovations, including bundling hotel accommodations and transportation via Interface's travel services, enhanced attendee experience and revenue streams beyond booth fees. The show's success reflected Adelson's foresight in betting on silicon-based over traditional sectors, yielding Interface significant profits that funded subsequent diversification. In 1995, facing intensifying competition from events like CES, Adelson and his partners sold the Interface Group Show Division—including COMDEX—to Japan's SoftBank Corporation for $862 million. Adelson personally netted more than $500 million from the transaction, proceeds that directly enabled his pivot to casino development. Post-sale, SoftBank attempted to sustain COMDEX but struggled with format shifts and market saturation, leading to its decline and cancellation by 2006. Interface retained non-show assets, underscoring Adelson's strategic exit at peak valuation.

Development of the Sands Casino Properties

In 1988, Sheldon Adelson, through his Interface Group company, acquired the Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip from Kirk Kerkorian's MGM Grand Inc. for $110 million, marking his entry into the gaming industry. The purchase leveraged Adelson's experience from producing large-scale trade shows like COMDEX, which had already established the Sands as a key venue for conventions. Following the acquisition, Adelson focused on enhancing the property's appeal to convention business by developing the adjacent Sands Expo and Convention Center, completed in 1990 at a cost of $105 million and spanning 1.2 million square feet, making it the largest privately owned convention facility in the United States at the time. This expansion capitalized on the growing demand for dedicated space in , driven by events like , and positioned the Sands as a hybrid casino-convention destination rather than a traditional Strip hotel reliant primarily on gaming revenue. By the mid-1990s, Adelson shifted toward comprehensive redevelopment, using $862 million in proceeds from selling the Interface Group's COMDEX and related trade show operations to SoftBank Corp. in 1995 to finance a larger project. The original Sands Hotel structure, operational since 1952 and known for hosting entertainers like the Rat Pack, was closed and imploded on November 26, 1996, clearing the 63-acre site for a new integrated resort. Groundbreaking for The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino occurred on April 14, 1997, with construction emphasizing a Renaissance Venice theme—including indoor canals, frescoed ceilings, and gondola rides—completed and opened in May 1999 at an estimated cost of $2 billion. The Venetian featured over 3,000 suites, extensive retail space, and expanded convention facilities, redefining the site as a luxury mega-resort prioritizing non-gaming amenities to attract high-end visitors.

Expansion into International Markets

Following the 1999 handover of Macau from Portugal to China and subsequent liberalization of its gaming monopoly in 2002, Sheldon Adelson positioned Las Vegas Sands to capitalize on the territory's emerging market potential. The company secured one of three initial gaming concessions in 2002 after a competitive bidding process initiated in 2001. Sands Macao, LVS's inaugural international property, opened on May 18, 2004, as a standalone casino without hotel rooms, generating profits exceeding its construction costs within the first year and establishing Adelson's model of American-style mass-market gaming in Asia. Adelson then drove the creation of the Cotai Strip, envisioning a replica of the Las Vegas Strip tailored to Asian conventions and tourism. The Venetian Macao debuted on August 28, 2007, as the world's second-largest building by square footage at 10.5 million square feet, featuring 3,000 suites, a 550,000-square-foot casino, and extensive meeting facilities that tripled international visitor arrivals to the area. Subsequent phases under his direction included the 2012 opening of Sands Cotai Central (later rebranded) and The Parisian Macao on September 13, 2016, expanding LVS's portfolio to five integrated resorts in Macau by the late 2010s, which collectively generated billions in annual revenue and shifted the company's focus toward Asia. To diversify beyond Macau amid regulatory and market risks, Adelson targeted Singapore's 2005 call for integrated resort proposals. LVS won a in late , committing $5.6 billion to , which opened in stages starting April 27, 2010, with its three-tower design crowned by the SkyPark observation deck. The property rapidly became one of LVS's most profitable assets, contributing over $1 billion in quarterly cash flow alongside Macau operations by the mid-2010s and exemplifying Adelson's strategy of blending gaming with luxury hospitality to attract high-volume tourists.

Economic Impact and Innovations

Adelson pioneered the integrated resort model in the casino industry, emphasizing a synergy of gaming with non-gaming elements such as luxury accommodations, retail, conventions, and entertainment to create self-contained destinations. This innovation departed from traditional casino-focused operations by prioritizing diversified revenue streams, where non-gaming income could match or surpass gaming proceeds, as demonstrated by The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, which opened on May 3, 1999, and featured immersive Venetian-themed architecture including indoor canals and gondola rides. The model proved scalable, influencing global standards for resort development by attracting broader demographics beyond gamblers, including business and leisure travelers via extensive meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions (MICE) facilities. Adelson extended this approach internationally, opening the Venetian Macao on August 28, 2007, which introduced mega-resort scale to Macau's Cotai Strip with 3,000 suites, a 1.2 million-square-foot convention center, and luxury shopping, fundamentally reshaping the region's gaming infrastructure from small-scale operations to integrated complexes. Similarly, the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, launched on April 27, 2010, incorporated architectural innovations like three 55-story towers linked by a 340-meter SkyPark observation deck, blending casino operations with high-end hospitality and cultural attractions to appeal to Asia's affluent markets. These developments established Las Vegas Sands as the world's largest casino operator by revenue during Adelson's tenure, with the integrated model enabling resilience through economic cycles by reducing reliance on gaming volatility. The economic footprint of Adelson's ventures included substantial job creation and fiscal contributions across jurisdictions. Las Vegas Sands employed around 40,100 people globally as of 2024, with properties in Las Vegas supporting thousands in direct roles spanning hospitality, retail, and operations, bolstering Nevada's tourism-driven economy that generated nearly $100 billion in activity and over 436,000 jobs in 2024. In Macau, Sands China directed approximately $17 billion in investments by 2024 toward infrastructure that aided diversification from manufacturing dependency, while generating billions in annual gaming and non-gaming revenues that supported local employment and government taxes. In Singapore, Marina Bay Sands maintained a workforce exceeding 11,000 and expended S$2.19 billion locally in 2024, contributing meaningfully to national GDP through tourism inflows and multiplier effects in related sectors. These impacts stemmed from Adelson's focus on high-volume, convention-oriented properties that stimulated ancillary spending in supply chains and visitor economies.

Philanthropy

Founding of Charitable Foundations

In 2006, Sheldon G. Adelson and his wife, Dr. Miriam Adelson, established the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation, a private entity dedicated to accelerating biomedical innovation through collaborative research models, with an emphasis on fields such as neurology, immunology, and oncology. The foundation's approach prioritized integrated partnerships among researchers to expedite the translation of discoveries into clinical applications and commercialization, reflecting Adelson's interest in addressing perceived inefficiencies in traditional medical research funding. The following year, in 2007, the Adelsons founded the Adelson Family Foundation, primarily aimed at bolstering the State of Israel and supporting Jewish communities worldwide through targeted grantmaking. This foundation emerged as a vehicle for their philanthropic priorities, including education, cultural preservation, and community strengthening initiatives aligned with Jewish values and Israeli resilience. These entities built upon earlier giving, such as through the Dr. Miriam & Sheldon G. Adelson Charitable Trust formed in 1994, but marked a formalized expansion of structured philanthropy amid Adelson's growing wealth from casino operations. Both foundations operated as family-directed private entities, allowing the Adelsons direct control over disbursements without reliance on government or institutional intermediaries, which enabled rapid allocation to causes they deemed urgent based on personal assessments of need and impact. By their inception, these foundations collectively positioned the Adelsons to channel hundreds of millions in annual contributions, underscoring a commitment to self-directed altruism over broader bureaucratic frameworks.

Contributions to Jewish and Israeli Causes

Adelson channeled significant resources through the Adelson Family Foundation, established in 2007, to bolster Jewish identity, education, and Israeli institutions, with grants explicitly aimed at strengthening the State of Israel and the Jewish people worldwide. The foundation's annual giving in this domain reached pledges of $200 million collectively with his wife Miriam, prioritizing organizations focused on youth engagement, Holocaust remembrance, and medical infrastructure. A cornerstone of these efforts was support for Taglit-Birthright Israel, the program offering free 10-day trips to for young Jewish adults to foster cultural connections. Since 2007, the Adelsons contributed nearly $500 million to the initiative, enabling hundreds of thousands of participants. In 2018, they donated $70 million, representing a substantial portion of the organization's funding that year. Earlier contributions included $40 million in 2013 and a 2008 gift of $27.5 million, which accounted for 57 percent of Birthright's total fundraising at the time. Adelson also advanced Holocaust education and memorialization via Yad Vashem, Israel's official Holocaust museum and research center in . A $25 million in 2006 revitalized the institution's operations and exhibits. This was followed by another $25 million in 2011, elevating their cumulative support to $50 million and funding key expansions. Additional grants targeted Israeli healthcare and military support networks, including $40 million to for advanced facilities. The Adelsons further backed groups like Friends of the , providing aid to soldiers and families, and quietly supported Jewish outreach efforts through entities such as Chabad-Lubavitch, reflecting a commitment to grassroots Jewish continuity. These contributions, often exceeding $140 million to alone by the mid-2010s, underscored Adelson's emphasis on empirical impact through direct institutional bolstering rather than diffuse advocacy.

Investments in Healthcare and Education

Adelson and his wife, , co-founded the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation in 2006 as a private entity dedicated to funding collaborative biomedical research, with an emphasis on accelerating innovation through integrated teams in areas such as , , , and translational . The foundation's model prioritizes among scientists and institutions to expedite discoveries and their commercialization, disbursing tens of millions annually in grants by the time of Adelson's death in 2021. A significant portion of their healthcare philanthropy targeted drug abuse treatment and research, driven by personal family tragedies including the addictions of Adelson's sons from his first marriage, Mitchell and Gary, with Mitchell dying from an overdose in 2001. Miriam Adelson, a physician specializing in addiction treatment, established the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Clinic for Drug Abuse Treatment and Research in Tel Aviv in 1993 at the Sourasky Medical Center, later expanding it with a counterpart in Las Vegas to provide comprehensive care, prevention, and studies on substance use disorders, including HIV prevention among users. These clinics have treated thousands, emphasizing evidence-based therapies and research into addiction's neurological underpinnings. In education, the Adelsons invested heavily in Jewish day schooling through the Adelson Educational Campus in Las Vegas, donating $50 million in February 2013 to fund infrastructure, faculty, and programs serving students from preschool through high school. This contribution augmented earlier gifts, such as over $25 million to build a high school facility at the Milton I. Schwartz Hebrew Academy, part of the campus, which integrates secular and Jewish curricula to foster academic excellence and cultural continuity. Their broader educational giving included support for initiatives like Taglit-Birthright Israel, providing free trips to Israel for young Jewish adults to strengthen identity and heritage, though these were secondary to direct school investments. Overall, such efforts reflected a commitment to empirical outcomes in education, prioritizing institutions with measurable impacts on student achievement and community resilience over ideologically driven programs.

Political Engagement

Support for Republican Candidates and Causes

Sheldon Adelson became one of the largest individual donors to Republican candidates and causes, particularly after the 2010 Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court ruling enabled unlimited contributions to independent super PACs. Between 2010 and his death in 2021, Adelson personally directed hundreds of millions of dollars toward Republican efforts, with combined donations from him and his wife Miriam exceeding $424 million to support Donald Trump and other GOP figures. His contributions prioritized candidates advocating robust national security policies, including strong support for Israel and opposition to the Iran nuclear deal, alongside efforts to protect brick-and-mortar casino interests against online gambling expansion. In the 2012 Republican presidential primaries, Adelson provided more than $10 million to Winning Our Future, the super PAC backing Newt Gingrich, including a pivotal $5 million check delivered on January 9, 2012, which helped sustain Gingrich's campaign amid financial strains. After Gingrich's withdrawal, Adelson redirected support to Mitt Romney, hosting a May 29, 2012, fundraiser in Las Vegas that raised millions for Romney's general election bid and contributing to pro-Romney super PACs. Overall, Adelson's 2012 cycle spending on Republican super PACs ranked among the highest, totaling approximately $93 million in outside contributions. Adelson's backing intensified for Donald Trump in 2016, initially supporting Marco Rubio before shifting $25 million to Trump-aligned super PACs like Future45 following Trump's nomination. In the 2020 election cycle, he pledged up to $100 million for Trump's re-election and Republican Senate candidates in February 2020, ultimately contributing at least $180 million personally amid his company's challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. These funds flowed through super PACs and groups like the Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund, which received significant Adelson support to bolster pro-Israel Republican incumbents. Beyond presidential races, Adelson donated heavily to midterm efforts, including over $113 million in the 2018 cycle to Republican super PACs defending congressional majorities, often tying contributions to candidates opposing online gambling legalization. His largesse extended to party committees, such as $30,800 to the National Republican Congressional Committee on September 30, 2011. Adelson's strategy emphasized high-impact, late-cycle infusions to influence close races, cementing his role as a kingmaker in GOP primaries and general elections.

Advocacy on Foreign Policy and National Security

Sheldon Adelson advocated robust U.S. foreign policy alignment with Israeli security interests, particularly emphasizing deterrence against threats like Iran. He sponsored numerous congressional delegations to Israel via American Israel Education Foundation, an AIPAC affiliate, starting in the 1990s to foster pro-Israel sentiment among U.S. lawmakers. Adelson pushed for relocating the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, viewing it as recognition of Israel's capital and a national security affirmation. In February 2018, he offered to fund up to $500 million for the new facility, though the State Department deemed such private donations legally unfeasible. His $25 million contribution to a Trump super PAC in 2017, among over $200 million total to Republican causes during Trump's tenure, pressured fulfillment of the embassy move, executed on May 14, 2018. Regarding Iran, Adelson rejected diplomatic engagement, famously proposing in October 2013 at Yeshiva University that the U.S. detonate a nuclear device in an Iranian desert as a warning to abandon its nuclear program, rather than negotiate. He opposed the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), funding over $10 million to congressional candidates vowing to dismantle it post-2016 election. Adelson hailed Trump's May 2018 JCPOA withdrawal as a security victory, aligning with his view that Iran posed an existential threat warranting preemptive measures. Adelson channeled hundreds of millions through the Adelson Family Foundation to pro-Israel advocacy organizations, including AIPAC, the Republican Jewish Coalition, and the Israeli American Council, which he helped elevate into a major lobbying force by 2013. These efforts promoted policies like enhanced U.S. military aid to Israel—totaling $38 billion over a decade from 2016—and opposition to Palestinian statehood initiatives perceived as compromising Israeli security. His funding extended to Christians United for Israel, donating $4.6 million since 2012 to bolster evangelical support for hawkish U.S. stances.

Positions on Domestic Issues

Adelson vehemently opposed the legalization and expansion of online gambling, viewing it as a moral and economic threat to traditional casino operations. In a 2013 interview, he described online gambling as a "toxicity" and stated he was "willing to spend whatever it takes" to halt its proliferation, citing concerns over addiction, underage access, and revenue loss for land-based resorts. He funded lobbying efforts, including the Coalition for Problem-Free Gambling and support for the Restore America's Wire Act (RAWA), which aimed to reinstate a federal ban on internet wagering, arguing it would undermine jobs and industry stability despite evidence from states like Nevada showing minimal cannibalization of physical casino revenues. On fiscal policy, Adelson advocated for lower taxes, particularly criticizing the estate tax as unconstitutional double taxation. He publicly questioned, "How many times do you have to pay taxes on money?" in reference to inheritance levies, and benefited from Republican-backed reforms that reduced his potential liability by hundreds of millions. His support aligned with broader GOP efforts to extend tax cuts, as seen in analyses projecting up to $2 billion in savings for him under proposals like those from Mitt Romney in 2012. Adelson identified as a social liberal on several issues, distinguishing himself from cultural conservatives within the Republican Party. He described himself as pro-choice on abortion, favoring minimal government intervention in personal decisions, and supported work requirements for welfare programs to promote self-reliance. This Chamber of Commerce-style conservatism prioritized economic deregulation over social mandates, though he occasionally clashed with unions, resisting organized labor in his casino properties to maintain operational flexibility. Regarding immigration, Adelson endorsed comprehensive reform, co-authoring a 2014 New York Times op-ed with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates that called for a regulated pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, emphasizing economic growth through expanded legal worker visas and enforcement against illegal entry. He argued that failure to address the issue stifled innovation and labor markets, particularly in hospitality sectors reliant on immigrant workers, though his advocacy did not translate to equivalent financial commitments compared to his foreign policy donations.

Media and Public Influence

Ownership of Israel Hayom

Sheldon Adelson founded Israel Hayom, a Hebrew-language daily newspaper, on July 30, 2007, distributing it for free nationwide to challenge what he viewed as the dominant left-leaning media landscape in Israel. The paper was launched after Adelson's unsuccessful bid to acquire an existing outlet, with initial funding covering printing and distribution costs estimated in the tens of millions of dollars annually, allowing it to undercut paid competitors like Yedioth Ahronoth. Despite Adelson's attorney stating in 2016 before Israel's Supreme Court that the billionaire did not personally own Israel Hayom—claiming instead that it was held by a relative—the publication has been widely associated with Adelson's influence and resources, including direct financial support to sustain operations at a reported loss. Following Adelson's death on January 11, 2021, ownership remained with his family, primarily under his widow Miriam Adelson, who continued its pro-Israel and conservative editorial direction. Israel Hayom rapidly achieved market dominance, becoming Israel's most-read print daily with weekday readership exposure rates of approximately 27.1% from July 2023 to June 2024, surpassing rivals by wide margins and distributing over 300,000 copies daily in its early years. Its free model and emphasis on national security, Zionist themes, and favorable coverage of Benjamin Netanyahu—often described by critics as a "personal mouthpiece"—drew accusations of distorting media pluralism, prompting legislative efforts to restrict free dailies that some viewed as an attempt to curb Adelson's sway. Adelson maintained the paper's purpose was to provide balanced reporting amid perceived institutional biases in Israeli journalism, a stance echoed in its self-description as countering monopolistic influences.

Acquisition of Las Vegas Review-Journal

In December 2015, News + Media Capital Group LLC, a Delaware-based entity founded that September, acquired the Las Vegas Review-Journal and its affiliated publications from GateHouse Media for $140 million. The transaction, completed on December 10, represented a premium of approximately $38 million over the paper's prior valuation and roughly two to three times its estimated market worth amid declining print media revenues. The buyer's identity was initially concealed, prompting investigative reporting by the Review-Journal's own staff, who uncovered ties to Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino magnate and majority owner of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Adelson's son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, orchestrated the deal on behalf of the Adelson family, which confirmed ownership on December 17, 2015, framing the purchase as both a financial investment and a commitment to the Las Vegas community with pledges for further capital infusion. The secrecy fueled speculation about strategic motives, given Adelson's prominence in Nevada politics as a major Republican donor in a pivotal swing state. The acquisition drew immediate scrutiny for its opaque structure and Adelson's history of litigiousness toward media outlets, including prior libel suits against journalists covering his business disputes. Outgoing editor J. Keith Moyer was dismissed after authorizing the story revealing Adelson as the buyer, and subsequent internal policies restricted staff coverage of the owner, leading to resignations such as that of columnist John L. Smith in April 2016 over a ban on Adelson-related writing. GateHouse defended the sale price as reflective of the paper's dominant position in Nevada's media market.

Broader Media Strategies

Adelson's media strategies extended beyond direct ownership to encompass aggressive market disruption and ideological realignment, often prioritizing long-term narrative control over immediate profitability. A hallmark was the use of substantial subsidies to distribute content freely or at a loss, as demonstrated in Israel where he invested hundreds of millions to make Israel Hayom the nation's highest-circulation daily by 2011, eroding rivals' revenues by up to 80 percent in some cases and shifting overall media discourse toward support for Benjamin Netanyahu's policies. This loss-leader model, funded personally at an estimated annual cost of $50 million, aimed to capture public attention and foster dependency on aligned viewpoints rather than compete on journalistic merit alone. In the United States, Adelson applied similar tactics to amplify conservative positions on foreign policy and domestic issues like gambling regulation. Prior to acquiring the Las Vegas Review-Journal in December 2015 for $140 million—well above market value—he publicly considered launching a competing publication in Nevada to counter unfavorable coverage of his casino interests, signaling a willingness to flood local markets with subsidized alternatives. Post-acquisition, strategies included enhanced internal oversight, such as assigning executives to monitor reporters' online activity and adjusting coverage to reflect his opposition to online poker legalization, which conflicted with the paper's prior editorial stance supporting Nevada's 2013 internet gaming law. These efforts formed part of a coordinated push to challenge perceived institutional biases in media toward left-leaning narratives, particularly on Israel-related matters, where Adelson advocated for outlets promoting unconditional U.S. support and opposition to a two-state solution. By integrating media influence with his political donations—totaling over $500 million to Republican causes from 2010 to 2020—Adelson sought synergistic effects, using publications to bolster candidates like Donald Trump who aligned with his priorities on national security and anti-Iran policies. Critics, including former Review-Journal staff who resigned in protest, argued this blurred lines between journalism and advocacy, though Adelson maintained his interventions preserved the outlets' viability amid declining ad revenues.

Controversies and Criticisms

Involvement in Political Scandals

Adelson's name surfaced in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ongoing corruption trial, specifically in Case 2000, which alleges fraud and breach of trust related to media influence. Prosecutors viewed Adelson as a potential witness, citing recorded conversations where Netanyahu reportedly encouraged him to launch the pro-Netanyahu newspaper Israel Hayom in 2007 to undermine rival publisher Arnon Mozes and his outlet Yedioth Ahronoth. Netanyahu's former chief of staff testified that the prime minister sought Adelson's involvement explicitly to "take down" Yedioth, framing Israel Hayom—distributed for free and funded by Adelson—as a tool for favorable coverage amid Netanyahu's electoral vulnerabilities. Adelson, a major donor to Netanyahu's campaigns, died in January 2021 before testifying, though an Israeli court had earlier ordered Netanyahu to disclose over 100 phone calls with him dating back to 2012 as part of the probe. Netanyahu defended the interactions during his May 2025 testimony, claiming he urged Adelson to "diversify" Israel's media landscape rather than target competitors. In the United States, Adelson's Las Vegas Sands Corp. faced federal investigations into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) stemming from its Macau operations, where executives allegedly paid at least $300,000 to a local lawyer between 2007 and 2010 for influence with officials granting casino approvals. Adelson testified before a U.S. House committee in May 2013, denying personal knowledge of or authorization for any illicit payments and asserting compliance with anti-bribery laws. The company disclosed in a 2013 SEC filing a "likely violation" of internal accounting provisions related to unrecorded consulting fees, leading to a $9 million civil settlement with the SEC in April 2016 without admission of liability. Adelson publicly suggested the probes were politically motivated retaliation for his Republican donations, including over $90 million in the 2012 cycle opposing President Obama, though no evidence substantiated such claims and investigations predated his major contributions. No formal charges were ever brought against Adelson personally in these matters, and Las Vegas Sands maintained that all activities were lawful business practices in a challenging regulatory environment. Critics, including former executives who sued Adelson alleging he directed cover-ups, portrayed the episodes as emblematic of aggressive expansion tactics intersecting with his political clout, but courts largely rejected such claims in defamation suits Adelson filed against accusers. Domestic campaign finance complaints against Adelson, such as a 2016 FEC filing alleging improper corporate contributions to federal candidates, did not result in violations or penalties.

Opposition to Online Gambling

Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands, publicly opposed online gambling starting in 2011, arguing it posed existential risks to the land-based casino industry by cannibalizing revenues and eliminating jobs tied to physical resorts. He described internet gambling as "suicidal" for the sector in the long term, predicting it would undermine branded operators and proliferate unregulated offshore sites accessible to minors and problem gamblers. This stance contrasted with his support for regulated brick-and-mortar gambling, which formed the core of his business empire, including properties in Las Vegas, Macau, and Singapore. In November 2013, Adelson escalated his efforts by announcing plans for a public campaign framing online gambling as a threat to children, the economically vulnerable, and societal stability, while pledging to spend "whatever it takes" to block federal legalization. He formed the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling (CSIG) in early 2014 to lobby Congress for restoring a nationwide ban, funding the group personally and through Las Vegas Sands, which allocated at least $320,000 for related Washington lobbying that year. The coalition advocated for the Restoration of America's Wire Act (RAWA), a bill to reinstate a broad federal prohibition on interstate wagering, including poker and sports betting, by overturning a 2011 Department of Justice interpretation of the 1961 Wire Act. Adelson's influence extended to swaying industry positions; by June 2014, he had pressured the American Gaming Association—the casino trade group's lobbying arm—to abandon its prior support for regulated online gambling and adopt neutrality or opposition. His efforts also targeted state-level expansions, pouring funds into candidates opposing legalization in places like Florida, where Las Vegas Sands contributed over $750,000 to politicians between 2010 and 2014. In 2017, CSIG-backed lobbying contributed to the Trump Justice Department's reversal of the 2011 Wire Act opinion, briefly reinstating a nationwide online gambling ban before a 2019 court settlement limited it to sports betting. These campaigns drew criticism from online poker advocates, who threatened boycotts of Adelson's casinos and accused him of hypocrisy for profiting from gambling while seeking to restrict competitors. Adelson maintained his position until his death in January 2021, having invested millions in a decade-long push that delayed but did not fully halt online gambling's growth in the U.S.

Accusations of Undue Influence

Critics have accused Sheldon Adelson of exerting undue influence on U.S. politics through his substantial financial contributions to Republican candidates and causes, particularly in shaping foreign policy toward Israel. Between 2016 and 2020, Adelson and his wife Miriam donated over $100 million to support Donald Trump's presidential campaigns, including $25 million in 2016 and $75 million in 2020 via super PACs. These funds coincided with Trump administration decisions aligning closely with Adelson's pro-Israel advocacy, such as the relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018, a move Adelson had long championed. A 2022 book by journalist Michael Kranish detailed claims that a $20 million donation to a pro-Trump super PAC in 2016 pressured the administration to prioritize this policy shift, highlighting Adelson's role in intertwining campaign finance with diplomatic outcomes. Adelson's influence extended to broader Republican alignment on Middle East issues, with detractors arguing his donations shifted the party's platform toward unwavering support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in March 2019. Outlets critical of this dynamic, such as The Guardian, portrayed Adelson as the "casino mogul driving Trump's Middle East policy," citing his $82 million in Republican donations for the 2016 cycle as enabling a hawkish stance on Iran and settlement expansion. Such accusations often emanate from sources skeptical of strong U.S.-Israel ties, including left-leaning publications that frame Adelson's motivations as prioritizing personal ideological commitments over balanced diplomacy, though his supporters contend the policies reflected longstanding bipartisan elements amplified by legal campaign finance mechanisms post-Citizens United. In domestic policy, Adelson faced allegations of leveraging his wealth to block online gambling regulations that threatened his land-based casino empire. He funded the Coalition for Problem-Free Gambling and similar groups, spending millions on lobbying efforts that contributed to the U.S. Department of Justice's 2019 reinterpretation of the Wire Act, expanding its scope to prohibit interstate online sports betting and poker—a reversal from a 2011 opinion under the Obama administration. Critics, including gaming industry analysts, pointed to Adelson's lobbyists providing analytical memos to DOJ officials in 2017 as evidence of targeted influence, with the decision benefiting his Las Vegas Sands properties by curbing competition. Adelson's success in swaying the American Gaming Association to abandon support for online gambling by 2014 further fueled claims of monopolistic self-interest, though he publicly justified opposition on moral grounds, arguing expanded access would exacerbate addiction and social harms without direct business incentives. These accusations persisted despite the legality of Adelson's activities under U.S. campaign finance laws, with opponents like poker advocacy groups decrying a "decade-long crusade" that prioritized brick-and-mortar interests over innovation and consumer choice. Federal disclosures show Adelson's expenditures exceeded $150 million on anti-online gambling initiatives from 2011 to 2018, correlating with legislative setbacks for legalization in states like California and Hawaii. While no formal charges of illegality arose, the scale of his involvement prompted congressional scrutiny, including questions during 2018 hearings on whether donor influence compromised regulatory independence—a concern echoed in reports from outlets like The Washington Post, which noted potential conflicts in the Trump-era DOJ shift.

Personal Life and Legacy

Family and Relationships

Adelson's first marriage was to Sandra Adelson in the early 1970s; together, they adopted her three children—sons Mitchell and Gary, and daughter Shelley—while residing in Massachusetts. The couple divorced in 1988 after approximately 15 years. In 1991, Adelson married Miriam Farbstein Ochshorn, an Israeli-born physician who specialized in addiction treatment and research; they met on a blind date arranged the previous year. Miriam, born in Haifa and trained at Tel Aviv University and Rockefeller University, had two daughters from her prior marriage. Adelson and Miriam had two sons together and maintained a close partnership in family, business, and philanthropy until his death. Their relationship emphasized shared commitments to Jewish causes, medical research, and conservative politics, with Miriam often described as his key advisor and collaborator.

Health Challenges and Death

In February 2019, Adelson was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of blood cancer, and began undergoing treatment while intending to maintain his role as chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp. The diagnosis came amid legal proceedings where his attorneys cited his deteriorating health, including side effects from medication that limited his ability to work full-time or testify in court. Adelson resumed treatment for the in late 2020, leading to a medical from his executive duties announced on , 2021, as the illness progressed despite prior periods of management. He continued to face complications from the cancer and its therapies, which ultimately proved fatal. Adelson died on January 11, 2021, at his home in , at the age of 87, from complications related to his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma treatment, as confirmed by Corp.

Wealth Accumulation and Honors

Adelson's early entrepreneurial ventures laid the foundation for his wealth, beginning with the founding of the Interface Group in the 1970s, which organized trade shows and travel services. His breakthrough came with COMDEX, launched in 1979 as the first major computer industry exposition, which by the late 1980s had become the world's largest such event, generating substantial revenue through exhibitor fees and related services. In 1995, Adelson sold Interface Group-Trade-Expo, the COMDEX parent, to Japan's SoftBank for $862 million, netting him his initial multibillion-dollar fortune after taxes and reinvestments. Transitioning to the casino industry, Adelson acquired the historic Sands Hotel in in 1988 and repurposed it toward conventions and meetings, capitalizing on demand from his trade show expertise. He later developed the Venetian Resort on the site, opening in 1999 as a luxury integrated resort mimicking Venice's architecture, which helped pioneer the modern mega-resort model combining gaming, hotels, and . Through Corporation, founded in 1995 and taken public via IPO in 2004, Adelson expanded aggressively into , securing a gaming license in 2001 and opening the Venetian Macau in 2007, followed by the in in 2010; these properties drove explosive growth, with operations alone generating billions in annual revenue amid China's rising middle class and tourism. His net worth fluctuated with market cycles and expansions but peaked during the 2010s casino boom: Forbes valued him at $16.1 billion in 2006, $26.5 billion in 2007, $37.2 billion in 2013, and approximately $35 billion at his death on January 11, 2021, primarily from owning over 50% of Las Vegas Sands, whose market capitalization exceeded $40 billion at times. Adelson received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, shared with his wife Miriam, recognizing contributions to international affairs through business and philanthropy. His business achievements also earned recognition in industry contexts, such as Forbes' consistent ranking among the world's richest individuals, reflecting his role in transforming global gaming from standalone casinos to expansive resorts.

References

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