Miriam Adelson

Miriam Adelson
Born	Miriam Farbstein 10 10, 1945
Birthplace	Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine
Nationality	Israeli, American
Occupation	Template:Flatlist
Known for	Ownership of Las Vegas Sands, Dallas Mavericks, and Israel Hayom; major Republican political donor
Education	Tel Aviv University (M.D.), Rockefeller University (postdoctoral)
Spouse(s)	Template:Plainlist
Children	4
Awards	Template:Plainlist

Miriam Adelson (Template:Née Farbstein; born October 10, 1945) is an Israeli-American physician, businesswoman, philanthropist, newspaper publisher, and political donor. Born in Tel Aviv during the final years of the British Mandate for Palestine, she trained as an internist and addiction specialist before becoming one of the wealthiest women in the world following her 1991 marriage to casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who died in January 2021. Through her family's controlling stake in Las Vegas Sands, her ownership of the Dallas Mavericks basketball franchise, and her role as publisher of the Israeli daily newspaper Israel Hayom, Adelson occupies a position of considerable influence in both American and Israeli public life. As of October 2025, Forbes estimated her family's wealth at $34.6 billion, placing her among the fifty wealthiest individuals in the world. She has been one of the Republican Party's largest individual donors since the 2010s and has emerged as one of the most prominent financial supporters of Donald Trump, contributing more than $100 million to his 2024 presidential campaign. In 2018, President Trump awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Early Life

Miriam Farbstein was born on October 10, 1945, in Tel Aviv, in what was then Mandatory Palestine. She grew up in Israel in the years surrounding and following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Her parents were survivors of the Holocaust, a fact that has shaped her philanthropic interests and political outlook in subsequent decades.

Adelson was raised in an environment marked by the founding generation of Israeli society. Details of her childhood and family background prior to her medical education remain limited in public reporting, though her upbringing in the nascent Israeli state and her family's experience during the Holocaust have been cited as formative influences on her later advocacy for pro-Israel policies in American politics and her philanthropic engagement with Jewish causes.

Education

Adelson studied medicine at Tel Aviv University, where she earned her medical degree (M.D.). She specialized in internal medicine and subsequently pursued further training in the field of addiction medicine. She completed postdoctoral research at Rockefeller University in New York, focusing on substance abuse and drug addiction treatment.

Her medical research centered on the treatment of narcotic addiction, and she became a specialist in this area during a period when addiction medicine was gaining recognition as a distinct field. Adelson later received an honorary doctorate from IDC Herzliya (now Reichman University) in Israel, recognizing her contributions to both medicine and philanthropy.

Career

Medicine and Addiction Research

Adelson's initial career was in medicine. After completing her medical training in Israel and postdoctoral work at Rockefeller University, she practiced as an internist and specialist in addiction medicine. She became the chief physician of a substance abuse treatment clinic, where she worked on methadone treatment programs and other approaches to combating narcotic addiction. Her work in this field spanned several decades, and she continued to use the title "Dr." in her public and professional life, a reflection of the medical career that preceded her emergence as a business figure and political donor.

Business Holdings

Las Vegas Sands

Through her marriage to Sheldon Adelson, Miriam Adelson became closely associated with Las Vegas Sands Corp., one of the world's largest casino and resort companies, which operates properties including The Venetian in Las Vegas and the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Following Sheldon Adelson's death in January 2021, Miriam Adelson inherited his controlling stake in the company and became the majority shareholder. As of 2025, this stake in Las Vegas Sands constituted a significant portion of her estimated $34.6 billion fortune.

Forbes included Adelson on its list of the world's billionaires, and in 2022 she was identified as one of thirty Israelis on the Forbes billionaires list.

Dallas Mavericks

In 2023, a group led by Miriam Adelson and her son-in-law Patrick Dumont completed the purchase of a controlling stake in the Dallas Mavericks, a NBA franchise, from former owner Mark Cuban. The sale was approved by the NBA's Board of Governors. Under the terms of the transaction, Dumont assumed the role of team governor, responsible for day-to-day oversight, while Adelson became the franchise's owner of record.

Media Holdings

Adelson is the publisher of Israel Hayom, a free daily newspaper in Israel that is the country's most widely read daily by circulation. The newspaper was founded by Sheldon Adelson in 2007 and has been characterized as broadly supportive of Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud party. After Sheldon's death, Miriam Adelson continued to oversee the publication.

The Adelson family also owns the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the largest newspaper in Nevada. Sheldon Adelson secretly purchased the paper in 2015, a transaction that generated controversy at the time; the family has maintained ownership since his death.

Political Donations and Advocacy

Republican Donor

Since the 2010s, Miriam Adelson has been one of the largest individual donors to the Republican Party and conservative political causes in the United States. Together with her late husband, she provided the largest single donation to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, his 2017 presidential inauguration, his legal defense fund during the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, and his 2020 re-election campaign.

Following Sheldon Adelson's death, Miriam Adelson continued her political giving at a comparable scale. During the 2024 presidential election cycle, she donated approximately $106 million to support Donald Trump's candidacy, making her the third-largest individual donor to his campaign.

Her political contributions have extended beyond presidential campaigns. In Texas, Adelson's donations played a role in state-level Republican primary races, including reported involvement in efforts related to casino gambling legislation in the state.

Pro-Israel Advocacy

Adelson has consistently advocated for the United States government to adopt policies favorable to Israel. She has supported Israel's claims to the West Bank and has been described as favoring Israeli annexation of that territory. Her political donations have been closely linked to her interest in shaping American policy toward Israel, and reporting has noted the connection between her financial support for Trump and his administration's Israel-related policy decisions.

In October 2025, during a speech before the Knesset (Israel's parliament), President Trump publicly acknowledged Adelson's influence, stating that she "loves Israel" and spotlighting her role in shaping U.S. decisions related to Israel.

Among the specific policy decisions that reporting has linked to Adelson's advocacy are Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the relocation of the U.S. embassy, as well as the pardon of Aviem Sella, the Israeli intelligence officer who recruited Jonathan Pollard as a spy.

In December 2025, at a Hanukkah party, Adelson publicly urged Trump to run for a third presidential term, a statement that drew media attention given the Twenty-second Amendment's two-term limit on the presidency.

Philanthropy

Adelson has engaged in large-scale philanthropy, primarily focused on Jewish causes, Israel-related organizations, medical research, and addiction treatment. She and her late husband established the Adelson Medical Research Foundation and made substantial donations to Birthright Israel, which funds trips for young Jewish adults to visit Israel.

Speaking about her approach to philanthropy, Adelson noted the strategic decision to attach her name to charitable giving: "If I gave my name, others would donate — so we surrendered," she said, explaining the transition from anonymous to public giving as a means of encouraging additional contributions from others.

The Adelsons were also significant donors to Israeli medical and educational institutions, including contributions to hospitals and universities in Israel.

Personal Life

Miriam Adelson was first married to Ariel Ochshorn; the couple divorced in 1986. She married Sheldon Adelson in 1991. The couple had two children together, and Miriam Adelson has four children in total, including a son named Matan.

Sheldon Adelson died on January 11, 2021, at the age of 87, due to complications from non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Following his death, Miriam assumed control of the family's business and philanthropic interests.

Adelson holds both Israeli and American citizenship. She has been described as holding a deep personal connection to Israel rooted in her upbringing in Tel Aviv and her parents' survival of the Holocaust.

In 2013, Adelson and her husband were named honorary citizens of Jerusalem.

Recognition

In November 2018, President Donald Trump awarded Miriam Adelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. The medal was presented during a ceremony at the White House.

Adelson and her late husband received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, recognizing their philanthropic contributions.

She received an honorary doctorate from IDC Herzliya (Reichman University) alongside former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, in recognition of her contributions to philanthropy and public life.

In 2025, Adelson was announced as an inductee into the Nevada Business Hall of Fame, alongside Las Vegas Raiders and Las Vegas Aces owner Mark Davis, in recognition of her business and philanthropic activities in the state.

Legacy

Miriam Adelson's position at the intersection of business, philanthropy, media ownership, and political influence makes her a figure of significant consequence in both American and Israeli affairs. Her financial support for Republican candidates — particularly Donald Trump — and her sustained advocacy for pro-Israel policies in Washington have made her one of the most influential political donors in the United States.

Her ownership of media properties — Israel Hayom in Israel and the Las Vegas Review-Journal in the United States — places her among a small number of individuals with substantial media holdings in more than one country, a position that has drawn both attention and scrutiny.

Trump's public acknowledgment of Adelson during his 2025 address to the Knesset — in which he credited her role in shaping U.S. decisions related to Israel — underscored the extent of her influence on American foreign policy toward the Middle East. Reporting by The Guardian, The New York Times, Reuters, and other outlets has documented the connection between her donations and specific policy outcomes during the Trump administration.

As the controlling shareholder of Las Vegas Sands and the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Adelson also holds a prominent position in the American business landscape. Her induction into the Nevada Business Hall of Fame in 2025 reflected the scope of her business and civic involvement in the state where her husband built much of his fortune.

Her transition from a career in addiction medicine to a role as one of the world's wealthiest women and most consequential political donors represents an unusual trajectory in American public life. Whether through her business decisions, her philanthropy, her media holdings, or her political contributions, Adelson's influence extends across multiple domains in the United States and Israel.