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Miriam Adelson

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Miriam Adelson
Adelson in 2023
Born
Miriam Farbstein

(1945-10-10) 10 October 1945 (age 79)
Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine[1]
Nationality
  • American
  • Israeli
EducationHebrew University of Jerusalem (BS)
Tel Aviv University (MD)
Spouses
Ariel Ochshorn
​
(div. 1980)​
​
​
(m. 1991; died 2021)​
Children5, including Matan
Awards Presidential Medal of Freedom (2018)
Smithsonian Institution's Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship (2008)
Doctor Honoris Causa by Tel Aviv University (2007)

Miriam Adelson (née Farbstein; born 10 October 1945) is an Israeli-American physician, businesswoman, and political donor.

She and her husband Sheldon Adelson, to whom she was married from 1991 until his death in 2021, became philanthropists through the Adelson Foundation, giving hundreds of millions of dollars to Jewish and Israel causes. Miriam Adelson is one of the largest supporters of Donald Trump, who awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018. Adelson has been a major donor to Trump's presidential campaigns, as well as his 2017 presidential inauguration and his legal defense fund against the Mueller investigation into Russian interference.

After her husband's death, Miriam became the owner of the Las Vegas Sands. She is the current publisher of the newspaper Israel Hayom and, with her family, owns the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Adelson is also the majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team with her son-in-law Patrick Dumont. As of August 2024, she is estimated to be the richest Israeli in the world and the fifth richest woman in America, with a net worth of US$30 billion.[2][3][4][5]

As per Forbes list of The Richest People In The World, dated 8 March 2024, Miriam Adelson is ranked #53 with a net worth of $32 Billion.[6]

Early life and medical career

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Adelson was born Miriam Farbstein in Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine, in 1945[1] to parents who fled Poland before the Holocaust. Her father was a prominent member of Mapam, a left-wing political party in Israel. In the 1950s, her family settled in Haifa,[7] where Adelson's father owned and operated several movie theaters.[8]

She attended the Hebrew Reali School for 12 years.[9] She served mandatory army service as a medical officer at Ness Ziona. After earning a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Genetics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,[10] she earned a medical degree, graduating magna cum laude from Tel Aviv University Faculty of Medicine.[11]

She became a physician and, eventually, the chief internist in an emergency room at Tel Aviv's Rokach (Hadassah) Hospital.[10] After divorcing her first husband, she went to Rockefeller University in 1986 as an associate physician specializing in drug addiction. There, she was mentored by, and subsequently collaborated for two decades with, Mary Jeanne Kreek, who was known for the development of methadone therapy for heroin addiction.[10]

In 1993, Adelson founded a substance abuse center and research clinic. She and her husband opened the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Research Clinic in Las Vegas seven years later.[12] She has published numerous scientific papers on the topic of drug addiction during her career and has been a guest investigator at Rockefeller University.[11]

Philanthropy

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Donald Trump presents the Medal of Freedom to Adelson

The Adelson family became philanthropists, primarily through the Adelson Foundation, and political megadonors. The couple was presented with the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution in 2008.[13][14]

In July 2024, Adelson donated $3 million to Israeli volunteer emergency medical services organization United Hatzalah. With the funds, the organization would purchase 76 motorcycles and ambulances and two emergency vehicles.[15]

In 2013, Adelson received honorary citizenship of Jerusalem.[16] She served as one of the finance vice-chairs for the inauguration of Donald Trump.[17] She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump in 2018.[18] Speaking on her Medal of Freedom at an event in August 2024, Trump said, "it’s actually much better because everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they're soldiers. They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead. She gets it, and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman, and they’re rated equal."[19]

Business ventures

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In 2018, Adelson was named the publisher of Israel Hayom, the most widely read newspaper in Israel,[20] a position she still holds.[12] She is also a voting member on the board of trustees at the University of Southern California.[21] After Sheldon Adelson died in 2021, she became the owner of casino company Las Vegas Sands, which he had founded. She is currently the majority owner of Las Vegas Sands, which she runs along with her family.[22]

The NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale of the controlling ownership interest of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association to Adelson and her son-in-law Patrick Dumont on December 27, 2023. Dumont became the Mavericks' governor and representative to the NBA Board of Governors.[23] The Adelson-Dumont families' would own 69% of the team and previous controlling owner Mark Cuban's share was reduced to 27%.[24]

Political views and activity

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With her husband and Donald Trump in 2019

Adelson is a prolific donor in American politics, mostly to causes affiliated with the Republican Party. She was the top female donor in the 2012 United States elections, contributing as much as the next 15 female donors combined. According to Politico, she reportedly donated $46 million in the 2012 elections.[7]

Since buying a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks, Adelson has been advocating for greater legalization of gambling in Texas, in order to build a casino in the state.[25]

Support for Israel

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Adelson has stated the "top issue in the Jewish community is the survival of the Jewish people." Rabbi Shmuley Boteach described her as "arguably the proudest Jew I have met."[7] A strong supporter of Israel, she has said that her heart is in that country and that she got "stuck" in America after meeting her husband.[12] She is credited with influencing his political views on Israel, who was "inspired by [her] Zionism, and from there began a public and philanthropic campaign unique in our generation".[26] Adelson is a financial supporter of the Zionist Organization of America, the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum and memorial in Jerusalem, and various U.S. groups that fundraise for the Israeli military.[27]

In response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Adelson published an Op-Ed in Forbes Israel, entitled "Dead to Us". Referring to a wave of pro-Palestinian protests occurring across various western cities and countries, Adelson stated that "Those ghastly gatherings of radical Muslim and Black Lives Matter activists, ultra-progressives and career agitators were nothing short of street parties. These people are not our critics. They are our enemies, the ideological enablers in the West of those who would go to any length to eradicate us from the Middle East. And, as such, they should be dead to us".[28]

Support for Donald Trump

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After 2016, she was known for her support for Donald Trump.[29] She and her husband were the largest donors of Trump throughout his presidency; they provided the largest donation to his 2016 campaign, his presidential inauguration, his defense fund against the Mueller investigation into Russian interference and the 2020 campaign.[30]

She has written that Trump "should enjoy sweeping support" among U.S. Jews and Israelis, and that Trump deserves a "Book of Trump" in the Bible due to his support for Israel.[31][32][29] She pushed for the pardon of Aviem Sella who spied against America.[33] Adelson wrote that Trump represents "kinship, friendship, courage, the triumph of truth" and that "Israelis and proud Jews owe Donald Trump our gratitude."[34]

Trump met with Adelson in February 2024, and she supported Trump in the 2024 United States presidential election.[35][36][37] In May 2024, Politico reported that Adelson will contribute $90 million to a Super PAC supporting Trump. At this time the Biden’s campaign account had $84 million cash, and Trump's had $49 million (not accounting for PAC dollars).[38]

Miriam Adelson sought support from candidate Trump for Israel's annexation of the West Bank, pledging more than $100 million to Trump’s campaign in exchange for U.S. recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the region.[39][40][41]

Personal life

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She married Ariel Ochshorn, also a physician, with whom she had two children.[12][42][43] The couple were divorced by 1986.[41] She met Sheldon Adelson in 1989, while at Rockefeller University, and they married in 1991.[41] The Adelsons had two sons, Adam and Matan. Matan has owned Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. since 2023.[44] Sheldon Adelson died in 2021.[42]

Awards and recognition

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References

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  1. ^ a b Binkley, Christina (7 January 2019). "Meet Dr Miriam Adelson: the record-breaking Republican donor driving Trump's Israel policy". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  2. ^ Denham, Jemima. "America's Richest Women 2023". Forbes.
  3. ^ "30 Israelis make Forbes 2022 billionaires list, led by Miriam Adelson | The Times of Israel". The Times of Israel.
  4. ^ "Bloomberg Billionaires Index". Bloomberg. 22 May 2024 – via www.bloomberg.com.
  5. ^ "Miriam Adelson & family". Forbes.
  6. ^ "The Richest People In The World".
  7. ^ a b c "Miriam Adelson". Hadassah Magazine. 22 October 2014.
  8. ^ "Meet the woman behind Sheldon Adelson". Fortune. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  9. ^ Takahashi, Paul (8 February 2013). "Adelson Education Campus receives $50 million gift from namesake benefactors". Las Vegas Sun.
  10. ^ a b c "Meet the woman behind Sheldon Adelson". Fortune. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  11. ^ a b MacWade, Alexandra (17 June 2016). "Miriam O. Adelson, a physician and expert in drug addiction research, is elected to the Board". News. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  12. ^ a b c d "Meet the woman behind Sheldon Adelson". Fortune. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  13. ^ "Sheldon G. Adelson and Dr. Miriam Adelson Receive Prestigious Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship" (Press release). Las Vegas Sands Corp. (via PR Newswire). March 26, 2008. Archived from the original on October 22, 2014.
  14. ^ Schleifer, Theodore (25 June 2024). "The Pro-Israel Donor With a $100 Million Plan to Elect Trump". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  15. ^ Lefkovits, Etgar (2 July 2024). "Miriam Adelson donates emergency fleet in honor of fallen soldiers, medical volunteers". Jewish News Syndicate. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  16. ^ "Grapevine: Honorary citizens". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  17. ^ "Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn join Donald Trump's inauguration team". USA Today. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  18. ^ a b "Trump to award Medal of Freedom to Elvis, Babe Ruth, among others". CNN.com. 11 November 2018.
  19. ^ "Trump says presidential civilian award is 'better' than top military honor whose recipients are 'dead' or 'hit' by bullets". NBC News. 16 August 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Miriam Adelson named publisher of Israel Hayom". Las Vegas Review-Journal. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  21. ^ "Trustees – USC Board of Trustees". boardoftrustees.usc.edu. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  22. ^ Golliver, Ben (29 November 2023). "Mark Cuban agrees to sell majority share of Mavericks to Adelson family". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  23. ^ Price, Dwain (28 December 2023). "NBA Board of Governors approve sale of Mavericks". Dallas Mavericks.
  24. ^ Townsend, Brad (10 February 2024). "Patrick Dumont, Mavericks majority shareholder, gives his first interview as governor". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  25. ^ Scherer, Jasper (21 May 2024). "Dade Phelan, House incumbents receive major fundraising boost from casino magnate". The Texas Tribune.
  26. ^ "Miriam Adelson, Reuven Rivlin receive honorary doctorates from IDC Herzliya". Jewish News Syndicate. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  27. ^ "Who is Miriam Adelson, the reported soon-to-be majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks?". WFAA Dallas. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  28. ^ "Dead to Us: Miriam Adelson in a Special Column for Forbes Israel". Forbes Israel. 18 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  29. ^ a b "Miriam Adelson hopes there will be a biblical 'Book of Trump'". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  30. ^
  31. ^ Komenda, Ed. "Miriam Adelson wants a 'Book of Trump' in the Bible. We asked an expert if that's possible". USA TODAY.
  32. ^ Dolsten, Josefin. "Miriam Adelson hopes there will be a biblical 'Book of Trump'". Times of Israel.
  33. ^ "Trump Grants Bibi's Wish for Pardon of Israeli Who Spied on America". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  34. ^ "Miriam Adelson: Israelis and proud Jews owe Donald Trump our gratitude". World Israel News. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  35. ^ "Trump meets with GOP megadonor Miriam Adelson". Politico. 10 February 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  36. ^ Leary, Alex; McCormick, John (6 April 2024). "Trump Will Raise $43 Million in One Night, but He's Still Courting His Biggest 2020 Donor". The Wall Street Journal.
  37. ^ Weil, Elizabeth (20 May 2024). "Miriam Adelson's Unfinished Business". New York Magazine.
  38. ^ Isenstadt, Alex (30 May 2024). "GOP mega-donor Miriam Adelson to fund colossal super PAC for Trump". Politico.
  39. ^ Slyomovics, Nettanel (3 June 2024). "Trump Is Desperate for Miriam Adelson's Cash. Her Condition: West Bank Annexation". Haaretz. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  40. ^ "After hesitating, Miriam Adelson commits more than $100 million to Trump's campaign". The Forward. 30 May 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  41. ^ a b c Weil, Elizabeth (20 May 2024). "Will Miriam Adelson Spend Her Billions on Trump Again?". Intelligencer. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  42. ^ a b "The Brass Ring". The New Yorker. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  43. ^ a b "The Adelson Method". Haaretz. 6 March 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  44. ^ Rubinstein, Adi (23 May 2024). "Hapoel Jerusalem owner Matan Adelson speaks about Zionism – and much more". Israel Hayom. Retrieved 20 October 2024.

Further reading

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