◼ Dossier
Miriam Adelson
Physician. Widow of Sheldon Adelson. Controlling shareholder of Las Vegas Sands China. Publisher of Israel Hayom. Net worth: ~$32–40 billion (Forbes, 2026). Largest individual donor to a US presidential campaign in recorded history.
She does not hold office. She does not have security clearance. She is not elected by anyone. She donated $100 million to elect a president, moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem for $20 million, blocked her casino workers from unionizing for 25 years, funded an armed settler militia, and operates Israel's most-read newspaper at a permanent loss to keep a specific politician in power. No law was broken that anyone was charged with. This is what legal looks like when you write the laws.
acts
$500M+ in political donations converted into US foreign policy: Embassy to Jerusalem, West Bank annexation push, and a $100M Trump check with reported conditions
In 2016, Sheldon Adelson withheld campaign support from Donald Trump until Trump publicly committed to moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — something multiple presidents had promised and none had done. Adelson then donated $20M. Trump won. The embassy moved on May 14, 2018. On opening day, Israeli forces fired on Palestinian protesters in Gaza: 60 Palestinians were killed, more than 2,700 wounded — the bloodiest single day since the 2014 war. After Sheldon Adelson died in January 2021, Miriam continued the enterprise. In October 2024, she donated $100M in installments to "Preserve America," a Trump super PAC — the largest donation of the 2024 cycle from any single individual. The Forward and Haaretz reported Adelson sought Trump's commitment to support Israeli annexation of the West Bank as a precondition. Her spokesperson denied a formal arrangement. Candace Owens publicly stated on air that Charlie Kirk told her Trump had accepted the funds in exchange for exactly that commitment. Total Adelson family political spending in the Trump era: more than $500M.
- Sheldon Adelson conditioned his 2016 support on a US embassy relocation commitment — documented by contemporaneous reporting and a 2022 Trump administration tell-all cited by Responsible Statecraft.
- The embassy opened May 14, 2018, the 70th anniversary of Israeli independence / the 70th anniversary of the Nakba. 60 Palestinians were killed on opening day by Israeli forces as tens of thousands protested in Gaza.
- Miriam Adelson's $100M "Preserve America" donation in fall 2024 was disbursed in monthly installments: $25M in July, $25M in August, $25M in September, $20M in late September.
- Reported West Bank annexation condition: first reported by the Forward; Adelson spokesperson issued denial; Candace Owens made public allegation; the claim remains reported-but-unresolved.
- Trump praised Adelson by name from the floor of the Israeli Knesset in January 2025 — the first sitting US president to address the Israeli parliament.
- Neither Miriam nor Sheldon Adelson ever held elected office or security clearance. US Middle East policy for eight years was substantially shaped by their check-writing.
Las Vegas Sands paid $16M in federal penalties for bribing Chinese officials — executives "knowingly failed" to prevent it
Between 2006 and 2009, Las Vegas Sands Corporation transferred approximately $60 million to a consultant in China and Macau, including $5.8 million with no "discernible legitimate business purpose." The payments were used in part to acquire a team in the Chinese Basketball Association — from which gaming companies were legally barred — and to pursue a Beijing real estate deal in a city that prohibited casino gambling. The company admitted that executives knowingly failed to establish accounting controls to verify whether the payments were legitimate or properly booked. The SEC extracted a $9 million settlement in April 2016. The DOJ entered a non-prosecution agreement for $7 million in January 2017 — signed on the eve of Trump's inauguration, three days before Adelson flew to Washington to attend the ceremony. Neither Sheldon nor Miriam Adelson was personally charged.
- SEC civil penalty: $9M, April 2016 — for violations of the FCPA's books-and-records and internal controls provisions.
- DOJ non-prosecution agreement: $7M, January 17, 2017 — three days before the Trump inauguration.
- Admitted conduct: executives "knowingly failed to devise and maintain a system of internal accounting controls" sufficient to ensure FCPA-compliant transactions.
- The consultant received $60M in total transfers over three years; $5.8M was paid with no documented business purpose.
- No individual executive was criminally charged. The $16M in total penalties was a rounding error against Sands' $12B+ annual revenue.
- Context: Three days after signing the NPA, Sheldon Adelson was seated in the front row at Trump's inauguration. He was then the single largest donor to Trump's victory.
From opening day in 1999, the Adelsons blocked union recognition at The Venetian for 25 years — the longest labor dispute in Las Vegas Strip history
When The Venetian opened in May 1999, more than a thousand Culinary Workers Union Local 226 members massed on the sidewalk in front of the new casino to demand a union contract. The Adelsons refused. For the next 25 years, Sheldon and Miriam Adelson deployed millions in legal fees, political lobbying, and personnel tactics to deny their workers the right to unionize — the longest running labor dispute in Las Vegas Strip history. "We own the sidewalks," Adelson famously claimed, and his lawyers spent years litigating to prevent union members from exercising their legal right to protest in front of his properties. Federal courts rejected the argument. Federal judges blocked punitive reassignments of worker-plaintiffs who filed labor complaints. Adelson publicly pledged to fund campaigns to abolish collective bargaining at the state level. Miriam Adelson was an owner through the entire period — through the 2021 sale to Apollo Global Management, which finally came to terms with the union in August 2024. Workers ratified their first contract on August 20, 2024: 25 years, one month, and 17 days after the first protest.
- The dispute is documented as the longest labor campaign in Las Vegas Strip history, per the Culinary Union's own records and the Nevada Independent.
- "We own the sidewalks" — Adelson's litigation claim that he could bar union members from public sidewalks adjacent to his property. Courts disagreed.
- Federal District Court blocked punitive reassignments of worker-plaintiffs after they filed NLRB complaints — documented restraint on anti-union retaliation.
- Adelson publicly pledged to fund state-level campaigns to eliminate collective bargaining rights.
- Las Vegas Sands sold the Venetian and Palazzo to Apollo Global in March 2021 for $6.25B; Miriam Adelson retained Sands China.
- Apollo recognized the Culinary and Bartenders Unions within 16 months of taking ownership. The Adelsons had blocked recognition for 25 years.
The Adelson Foundations gave $6M to an armed settler militia and millions more to a university in an illegal settlement — building out the occupation from the ground up
The Adelson Foundations donated $6 million to HaShomer HaChadash (2019–2022) — an organization that places volunteer security personnel on settler farms and ranches in the occupied West Bank. Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank is illegal under international law: the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from transferring civilians into occupied territory; the International Court of Justice affirmed this in a 2004 advisory opinion and a July 2024 ruling declared all Israeli settlement activity illegal and called for evacuation. Miriam Adelson has also donated millions to Ariel University — a university located inside an illegal Israeli settlement — describing the gift publicly as "a Zionist wall" and "a gift to strengthen the settlers in Judea and Samaria." She said this out loud.
- HaShomer HaChadash places volunteers as armed security guards on settler farms and agricultural operations in the occupied West Bank — providing the private security infrastructure that enables settler land use on Palestinian territory.
- Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank is illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention (Article 49), the ICJ 2004 advisory opinion, and the ICJ July 2024 ruling.
- Ariel University is located in the Ariel settlement, deep in the occupied West Bank, built on land seized after 1967.
- Adelson's own description: the Ariel University donation was "a Zionist wall" and "a gift to strengthen the settlers in Judea and Samaria." These are her words for the record.
- The Adelsons were named as defendants in a $34B class action lawsuit in 2016 for their support of Israeli settlement expansion. The case did not proceed to judgment.
- The ICJ in July 2024 declared Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territories unlawful and called on states to cease assistance to activities maintaining the occupation.
The Adelsons fund Israel's most-read newspaper at a loss — nicknamed "Bibiton" (Bibi's paper) — to keep Benjamin Netanyahu in power
Sheldon Adelson founded Israel Hayom in 2007. It is distributed free of charge. It has never been profitable. It loses tens of millions of dollars per year. It is now Israel's most widely circulated newspaper (27.4% weekday readership exposure, TGI survey, January 2024). An academic study published in the Journal of Communication found that Israel Hayom added at least two Knesset seats to the right-wing bloc across three Israeli elections (2009, 2013, 2015). Israelis call it "Bibiton" — "Bibi's paper" — because its front page headline on many days is simply the Netanyahu communications office's daily talking points verbatim. Former Netanyahu aide testimony in his corruption trial revealed that Netanyahu enlisted Adelson to found the paper specifically "to take down" the rival Yedioth Ahronoth, which Netanyahu considered hostile. Miriam Adelson continues to operate the paper. It is not a newspaper in the business sense. It is a political machine that distributes itself free every morning to tilt elections for a specific politician.
- Israel Hayom's economic model is structurally impossible without an ideological patron: a free-to-reader daily newspaper can only sustain itself if someone chooses to absorb the losses indefinitely.
- 27.4% weekday readership exposure (January 2024 TGI survey): the highest of any Israeli newspaper.
- Academic study (Journal of Communication / 972mag): direct statistical link between readership exposure rates and right-wing voting; estimated 2+ Knesset seats added to right bloc per election cycle, 2009–2015.
- Netanyahu trial testimony (former aide): Netanyahu specifically recruited Sheldon Adelson to create the paper as a weapon against Yedioth Ahronoth, which Netanyahu perceived as an opponent.
- Netanyahu's corruption case (Case 4000) involves allegations of regulatory favoritism exchanged for media coverage — a separate case from Hayom, but part of the same pattern of media-for-policy arrangements.
- Miriam Adelson has continued to fund the paper post-Sheldon. She inherited both the asset and the political function.
◼ 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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