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Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, a major donor to the US Republican party for decades and a loyal supporter of Israel, has died, his Las Vegas Sands company said on Tuesday. Las Vegas: Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire mogul and power broker who built a casino empire spanning from Las Vegas to China and became a singular force in domestic and international politics, has died after a long illness, his wife said.

By Will Dunham

(Reuters) – American casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who built lavish gambling palaces that made him one of the world’s richest men and became a potent supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has died at age 87.

Adelson, who headed the world’s largest casino company Las Vegas Sands, died on Monday night from complications related to treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma, Las Vegas Sands said in a statement on Tuesday.

'In Las Vegas, Macao and Singapore, Mr. Adelson’s vision for integrated resorts transformed the industry, changed the trajectory of the company he founded, and reimagined tourism in each of those markets,' the company said. 'His impact on the industry will be everlasting.'

A combative self-made man raised in a poor Jewish immigrant family in Boston, Adelson established hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, Macau and Singapore. His wealth made him a formidable figure in U.S. politics as he bankrolled Republicans including businessman-turned-politician Trump and fought Democrats. He also was a prominent supporter of Israel.

With a net worth of $33.4 billion as of this week, Adelson ranked as the world’s 38th richest person on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Adelson and his Israeli-born physician wife Miriam gave more than $218 million to Republican and conservative causes in the 2020 U.S. election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political spending, more than anyone else.

The Adelsons were prolific backers of Trump’s 2016 presidential bid, spending $20 million on the campaign and then $5 million more for his inauguration, and remained supportive during his tumultuous presidency. The casino magnate was in regular contact with Trump after he took office and saw some of his cherished goals relating to Israel come to fruition including the moving of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem in a break with decades of American policy. Adelson attended the embassy dedication ceremony in May 2018.

'He crafted the course of nations. Some of the historical changes that he helped effect – in the United States, Israel and elsewhere – are publicly known,' his widow, Miriam Adelson, said in a statement.

Known for his extensive philanthropy and business ventures in Israel and donations to Jewish causes, Adelson counted Netanyahu as a close friend. Adelson changed the Israeli media landscape in 2007 by launching Israel Hayom, a free right-wing daily newspaper that took a pro-Netanyahu line.

Israeli political commentators said Adelson played a role in persuading Trump to adopt policies in lockstep with Netanyahu, leading to the U.S. withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear agreement, support for Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and the transfer of the American Embassy to contested Jerusalem.

SON OF A CAB DRIVER

Adelson, a college dropout and the son of a cab driver, was short and stocky, had thinning red hair and in later years used a motorized scooter because of a medical condition that made it difficult to walk. But his appearance belied his clout and drive.

'I know that a lot of people think that guys like me succeed by stepping on the broken backs of employees and other people, but they don’t understand that we, too, have philosophies and ideals that we adhere to very scrupulously,' Adelson said at a Las Vegas event in 2008, according to the New Yorker magazine.

His empire in the United States, Macau and Singapore was exemplified by the Venetian resort casino in Las Vegas, which boasted replicas of landmarks from Venice, Italy, like canals, the Rialto Bridge and the bell tower of St. Mark’s Basilica. He filled his gambling hubs with trendy restaurants and shops, making them luxury destinations for business travelers and tourists alike.

In November 2018, Trump awarded Adelson’s wife the highest U.S. civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a move critics assailed as a presidential 'thank you' for the couple’s financial backing. During the White House ceremony, Trump hailed the Adelsons for protecting 'the sacred heritage of the Jewish faith,' placed the medal around her neck and kissed her on both cheeks.

Adelson also backed Republican U.S. President George W. Bush, then poured tens of millions of dollars into failed 2008 and 2012 efforts to defeat Democratic President Barack Obama.

Tributes to Adelson poured in after news of his death.

'He was an American patriot, a generous benefactor of charitable causes, and a strong supporter of Israel,' Bush said in a statement.

Naftali Bennett, a former Israeli defense minister and currently head of the far-right Yamina party, said on Twitter that Adelson, was 'a Jewish patriot who will be remembered for eternity in Israel.'

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, 'Our nation lost a remarkable American with the passing of my friend Sheldon Adelson.'

(Reporting by Will Dunham, Doina Chiacu, Steve Holland; editing by Louise Heavens and Howard Goller)

Sheldon Adelson, a casino magnate, perennial top single donor to Donald Trump and other Republican causes and an influential opponent of a two-state solution in the Middle East, has died. He was 87.

Related: Billionaire casino boss Sheldon Adelson splashes the cash in bid to help Trump

Adelson’s influence on Trump has been seen as a major factor in the president’s assertive foreign policy on Israel, including his decision to declare Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a deeply controversial move as parts of the city are also claimed by Palestinians.

In a statement on Tuesday Adelson’s wife, Dr Miriam Adelson, said the Las Vegas Sands chairman and chief executive died “of complications from a long illness”. A Nevada newspaper Adelson owned reported the cause of death as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which Adelson was found to have in 2019.

“It is with unbearable pain that I announce the death of my husband, Sheldon G Adelson,” Miriam Adelson said.

Adelson was born in 1933 and grew up in a suburb of Boston, his father a cab driver of Ukrainian Jewish and Lithuanian Jewish ancestry.

As the owner of the giant Venetian and Palazzo casino-resorts in Las Vegas, the Venetian Macau in China and the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, he was among the richest men in the world, with a net worth pegged by Forbes at more than $33bn.

In the 2020 election, the Adelsons set a new record for political gifts from individuals, flooding the Trump campaign, related accounts and many lesser Republican campaigns with a total of $172.7m, according to the campaign finance site Open Secrets.

The Adelsons were the top donors in every major election cycle going back a decade except for 2016, and their lifetime political giving amounted to about half a billion dollars, Open Secrets said.

In a statement on Tuesday, Trump said Adelson “lived the true American dream”. The president also recognised Adelson’s role in the embassy move and US recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights, another hugely controversial issue.

The former president George W Bush said: “Laura and I mourn the passing of a friend.”

An enemy of union organizing inside his casinos, Adelson was a veteran of bruising negotiations with, and criticism from, union political machines in Las Vegas and elsewhere, a conflict seen as fueling his support for anti-union Republican politicians.

In 2015, as part of a wrongful dismissal suit brought by an employee, Adelson spent four days in court defending his gambling empire from accusations of bribery and ties to organised crime in China.

Initially skeptical of Trump, whom he knew as a failed casino entrepreneur, Adelson was slow to enter the 2016 election. Since the early 2000s, he had prioritized giving to candidates who opposed Palestinian statehood, and it was not initially clear where Trump stood on Israel.

But Adelson and Trump’s priorities connected in Trump family connections, through the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Adelson had long supported.

Adelson was adored across much of the political spectrum in Israel for his wide-ranging support to many Jewish and also Zionist organisations.

Casino Magnate Dies

In particular, he was praised by hardline nationalists, in part due to his financial support for Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, which are considered illegal by most world powers. One medical school in a settlement in the occupied West Bank is named after the Adelsons.

The billionaire’s death was mourned by several far-right Israeli politicians, including Naftali Bennett, a former defense minister, who said Adelson would be “forever be recorded in the annals in the State of Israel”.

Local media reported Adelson’s funeral would be held in Israel.

Israel’s current and longest-serving prime minister, Netanyahu, has also been a key beneficiary of Adelson, who launched a free newspaper called Israel Hayom in 2007 that was clearly supportive of the Israeli leader. The paper has since become the country’s most widely circulated daily.

Netanyahu said he felt “deep sorrow and heartbreak” on hearing of Adelson’s death. The news will be a blow to the prime minister, who is facing an election in late March, although Adelson’s wife has long been seen as a leading figure in family decisions on Israel.

“Along with his wife Miri, Sheldon was one of the greatest contributors in history to the Jewish people, Zionism, settlements and the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said, using Miriam’s nickname.

Casino Magnate Dead

In 2018, Trump gave Miriam Adelson the highest US civilian honor, the presidential medal of freedom – alongside Elvis Presley and Babe Ruth.

Related: Sheldon Adelson faces new scrutiny as documents challenge his testimony

Casino Magnate Jewish Supporter Netanyahu

In her statement on Tuesday, she called her husband “an American patriot: a US army veteran who gave generously to wounded warriors and, wherever he could, looked to the advancement of these great United States”.

“He was the proudest of Jews,” she said, adding that he “saw in the state of Israel not only the realization of an historical promise to a unique and deserving people, but also a gift from the Almighty to all of humanity.”

While Adelson changed American politics with his money, equipping thousands of local Republican campaigns with the resources, messaging and structure to win, his sympathy for Trump ended with the president’s re-election defeat last November.

In 2015, Adelson acquired the Las Vegas Review-Journal in a secret bid, after the newspaper published exposés about his empire. Last November, the paper rejected Trump’s effort to deny his loss to Joe Biden in Nevada, urging Trump to accept the result.