$20 million to a SuperPAC against Hillary, $5 million to Trump's inauguration festivities, and now another $30 million to a SuperPAC dedicated to re-electing House Republicans – here's how Sheldon Adelson has bought his way into the heart of the GOP. Narrated by Albert Hammond Jr.
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News about Sheldon Adelson, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.News about Sheldon Adelson, including commentary and archival articles published in The New. Every so often philanthropists get it into their heads that it's up to them to save Israel.
Sheldon Adelson, with his wife, Miriam, talks with then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson before a 2017 speech by President Trump at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
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Fireworks explodes at a replica of the Eiffel Tower of Parisian Macao during an opening ceremony in Macau, China, on Sept. 13, 2016. The French-themed Parisian Macao is Sheldon Adelson's fifth property in the former Portuguese colony.
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Million-Dollar Donors
From 2012: For A Personal Cause, Casino Owner Bets On Gingrich
Comdex took off, so Adelson bought the legendary Sands Hotel and Casino and built a million-square-foot convention center behind it. It was the start of a new Las Vegas, a place that catered to big conventions all week long — not just the weekend crowd that came in for gambling and the shows.
«I think if you had to single out one individual who brought that kind of component to the city, it would be Sheldon Adelson,» said Sig Rogich, a longtime Las Vegas communications consultant. «He was a transformational figure in Las Vegas history.»
How Old Is Jim Parsons
In 1996, Adelson imploded the Sands and built the Venetian, a complex with more than 8,000 rooms and more than 150 stores and restaurants. It's a model that he replicated in Macau and Singapore with enormous profit.
«If you do things differently, success will follow you like a shadow, and you can't get rid of it. So that's what I did,» Adelson told the American Gaming Association convention in 2014.
Along the way, Adelson had battles. In the Comdex days, he fought the other casino owners. When he put up the Venetian, he froze out the unions that had represented workers at the old Sands.
«Anybody who stands up to him or stands in his way, he'll try to crush,» said D. Taylor, international president of the labor group UNITE HERE and a long time labor leader in Las Vegas.
Media
Las Vegas Columnist Quits After Ban On Writing About Adelson
In 2015, the Adelson family bought the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper, in a sale originally shrouded in mystery and investigated by the publication's own journalists. There were several newsroom resignations after that sale, including a columnist who was told he could not write about Adelson.
The «Adelson primary»
The fortune Adelson made in the casino business was spent generously on donations to Jewish causes, medical research and the Republican Party. He and his wife, Miriam, gave around $500 million over the past eight years to Republican and conservative campaigns.
The couple's prolific political giving led to what was sometimes called the «Adelson primary,» in which GOP presidential hopefuls would flock to Las Vegas to court Adelson and the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Fireworks explodes at a replica of the Eiffel Tower of Parisian Macao during an opening ceremony in Macau, China, on Sept. 13, 2016. The French-themed Parisian Macao is Sheldon Adelson's fifth property in the former Portuguese colony.
Kin Cheung/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Kin Cheung/AP
Million-Dollar Donors
From 2012: For A Personal Cause, Casino Owner Bets On Gingrich
Comdex took off, so Adelson bought the legendary Sands Hotel and Casino and built a million-square-foot convention center behind it. It was the start of a new Las Vegas, a place that catered to big conventions all week long — not just the weekend crowd that came in for gambling and the shows.
«I think if you had to single out one individual who brought that kind of component to the city, it would be Sheldon Adelson,» said Sig Rogich, a longtime Las Vegas communications consultant. «He was a transformational figure in Las Vegas history.»
How Old Is Jim Parsons
In 1996, Adelson imploded the Sands and built the Venetian, a complex with more than 8,000 rooms and more than 150 stores and restaurants. It's a model that he replicated in Macau and Singapore with enormous profit.
«If you do things differently, success will follow you like a shadow, and you can't get rid of it. So that's what I did,» Adelson told the American Gaming Association convention in 2014.
Along the way, Adelson had battles. In the Comdex days, he fought the other casino owners. When he put up the Venetian, he froze out the unions that had represented workers at the old Sands.
«Anybody who stands up to him or stands in his way, he'll try to crush,» said D. Taylor, international president of the labor group UNITE HERE and a long time labor leader in Las Vegas.
Media
Las Vegas Columnist Quits After Ban On Writing About Adelson
In 2015, the Adelson family bought the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper, in a sale originally shrouded in mystery and investigated by the publication's own journalists. There were several newsroom resignations after that sale, including a columnist who was told he could not write about Adelson.
The «Adelson primary»
The fortune Adelson made in the casino business was spent generously on donations to Jewish causes, medical research and the Republican Party. He and his wife, Miriam, gave around $500 million over the past eight years to Republican and conservative campaigns.
The couple's prolific political giving led to what was sometimes called the «Adelson primary,» in which GOP presidential hopefuls would flock to Las Vegas to court Adelson and the Republican Jewish Coalition.
«Hey, listen, Sheldon, thanks for inviting me,» said then-Ohio Gov. John Kasich at one such event in 2014. «I don't travel to these things much, but this is one that I thought was really, really important.»
Politics
At Least 4 SuperPACs Are Jostling For Donald Trump's Seal Of Approval
During the 2016 presidential primaries, Adelson initially appeared to back Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who received the endorsement of Adelson's Review-Journal. Unlike Rubio, Donald Trump said he didn't need Adelson's money. «If Sheldon gives to him, he'll have total control over Rubio, and that's the problem with the way the system works,» said Trump in an interview with Fox News.
But after early reservations, the Adelsons backed Trump's 2016 election effort; they gave $5 million to his inaugural committee and then donated about $500,000 to the legal defense fund for his White House aides. During the 2018 midterms, the Adelsons donated more than $100 million to Republicans.
Politics
Viva Las Vegas: Elvis, Adelson Honored With Presidential Medal Of Freedom
Trump awarded Miriam Adelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018; the citation praised her work and philanthropy in combating addiction. «You have been truly incredible,» Trump told her at the event, before looking out to the crowd. «Here to celebrate Miriam's award is Sheldon. Where is Sheldon? Where is Sheldon? Where is he? There he is. Oh, you didn't make the front row. He's probably angry.»
While Adelson was a staunch supporter of the Republican Party, he wasn't always in sync with the party's positions, telling reporters in 2012, «On the social issues, I'm not pro-life; I'm pro-choice.»
How Tall Is Sheldon Adelson
Adelson continued to support Trump in his reelection bid, though about a week after the election, his newspaper's editorial board said the defeated president was trying to «delay the inevitable.» The editorial column blasted the unfounded claims of voter fraud Trump and his allies were perpetuating.
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Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Ivanka Trump unveil an inauguration plaque during the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem on May 14, 2018.
Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images
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The Two-Way
U.S. Dedicates New Embassy In Jerusalem
Million-Dollar Donors
For A Personal Cause, Casino Owner Bets On Gingrich
He was a forceful advocate for moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Adelson heavily supported former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's 2012 presidential campaign in part because of his support for moving the embassy.
While the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations rejected such a move, Trump's administration embraced the policy.
Adelson even offered to pay for at least part of the cost of building a new embassy.
At the dedication ceremony for the new embassy in May 2018, the Adelsons sat in the front row just a few feet away from Netanyahu, Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner.
NPR international correspondent Daniel Estrin contributed reporting to this story.
How Old Is Sheldon Adelson's Wife
- Sheldon Adelson
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