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Miriam Adelson

Miriam Adelson (née Farbstein; born 10 October 1945) is an American and Israeli physician, philanthropist and political donor. She was married to Sheldon Adelson from 1991 until his death in 2021. After his death, she became the owner of the Las Vegas Sands and is estimated to be the fifth richest woman in America, with a net worth of $34.2 billion, as of May 2024. She is the richest Israeli in the world, and the 42nd richest person in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, while Forbes places her as the 44th.

She is the current publisher of the newspaper Israel Hayom and, with her family, owns the Lass Vegas Review-Journal. Adelson is the majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks with her son-in-law Patrick Dumont.

She is a political megadonor to the Republican Party, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump in 2018. Adelson and her late husband were significant donors for both Trump campaigns, his presidential inauguration, and his defense fund against the Mueller investigation into Russian interference.

Early life and medical career

Adelson was born Miriam Farbstein in Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine in 1945 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, where Adelson's father owned and operated several movie theaters.

She attended the Hebrew Reali School for 12 years. 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, she earned a medical degree graduating magna cum laude from Tel Aviv University Faculty of Medicine.

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

In 1993, she 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. She has published numerous scientific papers on the topic of drug addiction during her career and is a guest investigator at Rockefeller University.

Philanthrophy

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.

In 2013, she received honorary citizenship of Jerusalem. Adelson served as one of the finance vice-chairs for the inauguration of Donald Trump. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Donald Trump in 2018.

Business ventures

In 2018, Adelson was named the publisher of Israel Hayom, the most widely read newspaper in Israel, a position she still holds. She is also a voting member on the board of trustees at the University of Southern California. 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.

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. The Adelson-Dumont families' would own 69% of the team and previous controlling owner Mark Cuban's share was reduced to 27%.

Political views and activity

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.

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.

Support for Israel

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." 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. She is credited with influencing Sheldon's political views on Israel, who was "inspired by [her] Zionism, and from there began a public and philanthropic campaign unique in our generation". 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.

In response to the October 7th, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Adelson published an Op-Ed in Forbes Israel, entitled "Dead to Us". Referring to 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".

Support for Donald Trump

After 2016, she was known for her support for Donald Trump. 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.

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. She pushed for the pardon of Aviem Sella who spied against America. Adelson wrote that Trump represents "kinship, friendship, courage, the triumph of truth" and that "Israelis and proud Jews owe Donald Trump our gratitude."

Trump met with Adelson in February 2024, and she is expected to support Trump in the 2024 United States presidential election after he won the Republican nomination. However, the Wall Street Journal reported in April 2024 that she has not contributed any money so far to Trump's 2024 campaign.

Personal life

She married Ariel Ochshorn, also a physician, with whom she had two children. While at Rockefeller University, she met Sheldon Adelson, whom she married in 1991.

Awards and recognition

Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded by President Donald Trump (2018)
Doctor Honoris Causa by Tel Aviv University (2007)
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars' Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship