He told the story during a videotaped court deposition in 2008. 'When I was 12, I bought my first business,' said Adelson, who started out selling newspapers on the street. The French-themed Parisian Macao is Sheldon Adelson's fifth property in the former Portuguese colony.Īdelson grew up poor in Dorchester, Mass. He was in the first wave of superwealthy Americans to take advantage of the Supreme Court's controversial Citizens United ruling, which opened the doors to eight- and nine-figure political donations so long as the money goes to independent superPACs and not candidates or party committees.įireworks explodes at a replica of the Eiffel Tower of Parisian Macao during an opening ceremony in Macau, China, on Sept. and Israel, shaping the political debate of both countries. He spent much of it backing conservative politicians in the U.S.

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.Ĭasino magnate Sheldon Adelson, one of the most prolific donors in conservative politics, died Monday night at the age of 87 due to complications from treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to a statement from Las Vegas Sands, the company he founded.Īdelson made his fortune - a net worth of around $35 billion according to an estimate by Forbes - in the casino hotel industry.

Las vegas casino death watch