Sheldon Adelson started as a newspaper and gum seller in New York, died three years ago as a billionaire and owner of a casino empire in Las Vegas, Macau and Singapore. The widow of the “King of Gambling” and now owner of Las Vegas Sands Corp Miriam Adelson continues to run his business as well as support Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Adelson is one of the biggest sponsors of Trump’s campaign, she gave it 100 million dollars (over 2.3 billion crowns). For comparison: one of the richest people in the world, Elon Musk, officially contributed “only” 75 million dollars (1.7 billion crowns) to it.
Miriam Adelson holds US and Israeli citizenship. She is a doctor who specializes in the treatment of drug addiction. That’s how she met billionaire Sheldon Adelson in the early 1990s. His son Mitchell died after overdosing on heroin. The owner of the largest chain of casinos in the world then became a big opponent of the legalization of marijuana, because his son started with it. And Kamala Harris – Trump’s opponent in the election – said she would support the legalization of marijuana.
Donald Trump and Sheldon Adelson in a photo from 2019. | Photo: Reuters
But the Adelsons have for many years stood behind the Republican Party and politicians who subscribe to conservatism or reject high taxes. The casino magnate financially supported George W. Bush in both of his successful presidential runs. In 2016, he was one of the first businessmen to donate money to Trump and supported him until his death in January 2021. Before the last election, in which Trump lost to Joe Biden, he donated 218 million dollars (5.1 billion crowns) to the Republican candidate’s campaign . “I’m actually not a big fan of rich people trying to influence politics. But as long as it’s possible, I do,” he told Forbes magazine in 2012.
The businessman also financially supported Israel and organizations that advocate American support for the Jewish state. He was friends with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and when Trump signed an executive order to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018, Adelson attended the building’s opening ceremony. Adelson also had a casket with his remains buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem based on her husband’s wishes.
In 2015, Adelson bought the Las Vegas Review-Journal, in response to which most journalists left the paper. A year later, the newspaper became the first American media to call on Americans to vote for Donald Trump.
Widow Miriam did not endorse anyone in this year’s Republican primary. She met for dinner in Las Vegas with Trump and his rival Nikki Haley. But as soon as it became clear that Trump would be the party’s candidate, she immediately expressed her support for him. Forbes magazine last year estimated her assets at around $32 billion (750.2 billion crowns), which makes her the 44th richest person in the world. It is, of course, a smaller fortune than that of, for example, Elon Musk (about $246 billion), Amazon owner Jeff Bezos (about $206 billion) or Microsoft founder Bill Gates (about $205 billion).
It is worth noting that Miriam Adelson decided to invest in sports and bought a majority stake in the American National Basketball League (NBA) club Dallas Mavericks this year. The stake was sold to her by businessman Mark Cuban, who is one of the prominent financial donors to the Kamala Harris campaign.
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Spotlight Aktuálně.cz – Martin Řezníček | Video: Team Spotlight