The Ledger / Miriam Adelson
Miriam Adelson
◼ Origin
Miriam Adelson (nee Farbstein) was born in Tel Aviv in 1945. She trained as a physician, specializing in addiction medicine before marrying casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson in 1991. The marriage brought her into the center of one of the largest Republican donor operations in American history. Sheldon built Las Vegas Sands into a gambling empire spanning Singapore, Macao, and Las Vegas. When he died in January 2021, Miriam inherited majority control of the company, the Israel Hayom newspaper, and the couple's vast political apparatus. The Adelsons spent more than $600M supporting Trump across three presidential campaigns. Their operating model was explicit: donations in exchange for specific foreign policy outcomes. The US Embassy relocation to Jerusalem, recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and Trump's non-opposition to West Bank annexation all followed Adelson money. Miriam poured $106M into the Preserve America super PAC for Trump's 2024 campaign, appearing at the Knesset in October 2025 as Trump praised her before the Israeli parliament. The company she inherited had already settled two federal bribery cases (FCPA): $9M to the SEC and $6.96M to the DOJ for payments to Chinese officials to circumvent gambling prohibitions. The Venetian hotel she sold in 2022 had spent 25 years crushing union organizing. The newspaper she owns operates at a $25M/year deliberate loss to manufacture pro-Netanyahu public opinion across 27.4% of the Israeli electorate. Since 2021, she has personally funded settler militias and illegal settlement universities in the occupied West Bank, describing the donations as building a Zionist wall to strengthen the settlers.
◼ Self-Made Verdict — PARTIAL
Built her own medical career. The $30B+ fortune derives from her marriage to Sheldon Adelson, who was self-made. She inherited his fortune. Partial: professional accomplishment + inherited wealth.
◼ Documented marks
01
Donated $100M to the Preserve America super PAC in 2024 following Trump's promise of a "presidential medal of honor" for her late husband Sheldon; diplomacy as transactional as casino chips.
02
Las Vegas Sands paid $9M to the SEC (2016) and $7M to DOJ (2017) for FCPA violations; executives "knowingly failed to prevent" bribery of foreign officials. Miriam Adelson inherited and controls the company.
03
Adelson-funded Israel Hayom ("Israel Today") operates as a free daily newspaper at a deliberate loss of ~$25M/year; it holds 27.4% Israeli readership and functions as a pro-Netanyahu propaganda organ — academic studies document measurable electoral impact.
No inheritance, or primary accounts documented for this billionaire yet.
◼ List of charges
01
Dark Money Electoral Interference
5 – 15 years
Statute: Funding political campaigns through non-disclosed intermediary organizations designed to conceal donor identity and circumvent campaign finance law.
Basis: $100M to Preserve America super PAC (2024); $500M+ total Adelson family political spending in Trump era; embassy relocation and annexation policy sought as conditions
02
Corporate Bribery
5 – 15 years
Statute: Payment of bribes to foreign or domestic officials to obtain or retain business, as defined under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or equivalent statute.
Basis: Las Vegas Sands $9M SEC settlement (2016) + $7M DOJ NPA (2017) for FCPA violations; executives "knowingly failed" to prevent payments to Chinese officials
03
Retaliatory Anti-Union Conduct
3 – 7 years
Statute: Documented threats, surveillance, interrogation, retaliation, or coercion against workers exercising their right to organize, as found by the National Labor Relations Board or equivalent authority.
Basis: 25 years of documented union suppression at The Venetian (1999–2024); "we own the sidewalks" litigation; federal court injunctions blocking punitive reassignments; millions spent to deny workers right to organize
04
Material Aid to Ongoing Genocide
30 – life
Statute: Providing financial, military, or logistical support to parties engaged in genocide as documented by UN, ICC, or equivalent international body.
Basis: $6M to HaShomer HaChadash settler militia (2019–2022); millions to Ariel University in illegal settlement; described as "Zionist wall" to "strengthen the settlers"; ICJ 2024: all settlement activity illegal, states must cease assistance
05
Press Freedom Suppression
5 – 15 years
Statute: Systematic interference with independent journalism through ownership, legal harassment, financial pressure, or direct editorial interference to benefit personal or financial interests.
Basis: Israel Hayom: Adelson-funded free newspaper operating at deliberate loss; 27.4% Israeli readership; academically documented to shift elections; Netanyahu described as "Bibiton"; founded specifically to destroy rival press per trial testimony
Total sentence
48–130 years
That is
0.6–1.7 life sentences
(using 78 years as one life)
At $1 million per day
Miriam Adelson's fortune would last 88 years
1.1 lifetimes of luxury — before running out.
These are moral charges, not legal ones. The actual legal system has not — and will not — bring them.
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