[VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]
Sheldon Adelson plays as stubbornly in politics as he does in business. So the criticisms that he’s trying to personally buy the presidential election for Newt Gingrich are met with a roll of the eyes. “Those people are either jealous or professional critics,” Adelson tells me during his first interview since he and his wife began funneling $11 million, with another $10 million injection widely expected, into the former speaker’s super PAC, Winning Our Future. “They like to trash other people. It’s unfair that I’ve been treated unfair—but it doesn’t stop me. I might give $10 million or $100 million to Gingrich.”
Adelson, the 78-year-old CEO of casino giant Las Vegas Sands, certainly can afford to: With a net worth of roughly $25 billion, that $11 million, which jolted Gingrich’s flatlining presidential bid back to life, equates to 0.044% of his fortune. For someone with a $1 million net worth, the equivalent would be $440, or a two-night stay at Adelson’s Venetian casino. Adelson could personally fund an entire presidential campaign—say, $1 billion or so—and not even notice.
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5 Responses
I’m guessing Adelson has a strong connection to Israel PM, although Netanyahu can’t outright endorse a candidate, Adelson’s support of Gingrich is probably a good indicator of who Israel feels most secure about.
As the success of Rick Santorum (and briefly, Harman Cain before him) suggests, money isn’t all that important. As long as the candidate can advertise their existence, there are rapidly diminishing returns in spending additional money. What matters is the candidates ideology which is why the underfunded Santorum is not leading the race.
Although we certainly can’t knock him, it’d be nice if he took the same interest in supporting Yeshivas. (Note: I have heard that he does donate to Torah institutions. I just don’t know to what extent.)
He’s the one who funds the “Birthright” progrm to visit Israel at low cost (for Jewish identity).
Smart man knows that its Anyone But Obama in 2012!!