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Miriam Adelson slashed her philanthropy as casinos closed due to Covid. Now, her business empire is recuperating
(JTA) – The casino company controlled by Jewish megadonor Miriam Adelson is paying its shareholders dividends again, potentially paving the way to a rebound for the family’s foundation.
The Adelson Family Foundation — founded by Adelson and her late husband, Sheldon Adelson — has been a prolific giver to Jewish organizations, including Birthright Israel. The couple was also active in politics, supporting Republican campaigns. But after the casino industry flat-lined early in the pandemic, Adelson donations to charitable and political causes declined.
Assets held in the family’s charitable trust dropped from more than $200 million before the pandemic to $37 million in 2021 as it distributed money to the foundation and other causes without being replenished, according to records filed with the IRS.
The foundation’s grantmaking dropped to $80 million in 2021 from $100 million the year before and $117 million in 2019, according to IRS records. The foundation had only about $6 million in reserves at the end of 2021. More recent numbers are not yet available.
The dip in giving has had a significant impact. The Birthright program, for example, saw its funding from the Adelson Family Foundation cut by half in each of the past two years, with a corresponding drop in free trips for young Jews to Israel.
Now, Adelson’s business prospects appear to be improving. Her Las Vegas Sands Corp. announced that it would pay dividends to shareholders for the first time in more than three years as the company begins to recover from the pandemic-related downturn in global travel and hospitality. Adelson’s own personal payout is expected to be about $87 million for the quarter, a substantial sum but still a fraction of what she and her husband were regularly collecting before the pandemic.
It’s unknown whether or when the cash infusion will spell a restoration of funding for the various organizations that have seen a drop in support from Adelson over a period of several years, which has included Sheldon Adelson’s death at 87 more than two years ago. Adelson’s representatives said she is not giving interviews at the moment; Michael Bohnen, president of the Adelson Family Foundation, declined to comment.
The list of organizations that have been buoyed by Adelson’s support is long and varied. It includes right-wing advocacy groups like the Maccabee Task Force Foundation, which operates on college campuses; the Israeli-American Council and Zionist Organization of America; U.S. fundraising groups benefiting the Israeli military; the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum and memorial in Jerusalem; and the Adelson Family Campus, a large Jewish day school in Las Vegas, where Adelson lives.
Jonathan Sarna, a professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University, said he is confident in the Adelson family’s commitment to the charities it has supported. “The Adelson family has played a pivotal role in Birthright Israel and in the organization of the large community of Israelis in the U.S. through IAC,” he said. “They have also contributed to countless other Jewish philanthropic endeavors, including Jewish day schools and the Jewish community of Las Vegas. I have no doubt that the family will continue its tradition of philanthropic generosity.”
Andrés Spokoiny, president and CEO of the Jewish Funders Network, said the Jewish philanthropic world doesn’t rise or fall because of any one donor, even a philanthropist as prolific as Adelson. “The funding landscape is diverse and there is no sense of dependence on a single donor,” he said.
The Adelson name is also big in Republican politics: The couple broke a record for the most donations in an election cycle in 2020, with almost $173 million in campaign contributions. But the 2022 midterm election saw the newly widowed Adelson give only a fraction of that, with no contribution at all to the Republican Jewish Coalition, whose top patron became WhatsApp founder Jan Koum, who gave a $1.35 million donation to RJC’s Super PAC.
The reinstatement of dividends was made possible by increased visitation to Sands casinos in Macao and Singapore in recent months, which generated revenues of $2.5 billion for the second quarter, double what they were a year ago. Executives at the company said business still hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels, suggesting room for further growth.
“In Macao, we were pleased to see the ongoing recovery now underway in all gaming and nongaming segments progress during the quarter,” Sands Chairman and CEO Rob Goldstein said during a conference call on July 19 with investors. “We remain deeply enthusiastic about the opportunity to continue our investments to enhance Macao’s tourism appeal to travelers from throughout the region, including to foreign visitors to Macao.”
As a result of Sands’ profitability, the company is paying shareholders a dividend of 20 cents per share. Adelson’s roughly 57% stake is valued at more than $35 billion, placing her among the 40 richest people in the world according to Forbes.
Under Miriam Adelson, Sands has been lobbying to legalize gambling in Texas and is pursuing a bid for one of three licenses to operate a casino in New York.
Sheldon Adelson, who founded Las Vegas Sands and served as its CEO as it grew into an international gambling and resort empire, died in January 2021, living long enough to see Sands revenues plummet because of Covid-related lockdowns. The following year, the company, now controlled solely by Miriam, sold its marquee Las Vegas properties, The Venetian and the Sands Expo and Convention Center, for $6.5 billion in a bet on its Asian casinos and resorts.
It’s not the first time the Adelson empire has faced and recovered from economic headwinds. Adelson had begun expanding in Asia ahead of the 2008 financial crisis, borrowing heavily to finance the construction of new casinos and hotels. The company had lost billions as a result of the timing and the Adelsons paused much of their giving for a few years.
Whether Miriam Adelson desires to shift philanthropic priorities following the death of her husband remains unknown. The 77-year-old, an immigrant to the United States from Israel and a naturalized American citizen, earlier this year criticized the judicial reform being pursued by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which was notable because of the Adelsons’ long-standing support for Netanyahu.
Compared to her husband, Miriam has kept out of the public spotlight, with a significant exception in 2018, when Donald Trump awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s top civilian honor. A profile of her in the Guardian shortly afterward suggested that she had been far more influential in the couple’s activities than many realized.
“Everybody says it’s Sheldon, but it’s Miriam,” Michael Cherry, a board member of the Las Vegas addiction recovery clinic that the Adelsons founded, was quoted as saying.
Together with her husband, Miriam was the largest donor to Trump’s 2016 presidential bid. But she has not yet announced support for Trump this time around as he seeks to win the Republican nomination and get reelected in 2024. Earlier this year, Trump’s rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, was reportedly courting Adelson and other Jewish conservative donors. DeSantis and Adelson were seen seated together at a dinner in Jerusalem. But Adelson has reportedly said that she does not plan to make an endorsement in the primary.
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Spain Says It Won’t Allow Any Israel-Bound Ships Carrying Weapons to Dock as PM Plans to Recognize ‘Palestine’
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks to the media on the day of his meeting with Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris to discuss recognizing a Palestinian state, in Dublin, Ireland, April 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
Spain will not allow ships carrying arms for Israel to stop at its ports, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Friday, one day after the country refused to let an Israel-bound vessel dock at the southeastern port of Cartagena.
Albares had said on Thursday that Spain refused permission for the Danish Marianne Danica ship to call at Cartagena on May 21. The vessel was reportedly carrying 27 tons of explosives from India to Haifa.
“This is the first time we have done this because it is the first time we have detected a ship carrying a shipment of arms to Israel that wants to call at a Spanish port,” he told reporters in Brussels.
“This will be a consistent policy with any ship carrying arms to Israel that wants to call at Spanish ports,” Albares declared. “The foreign ministry will systematically reject such stopovers for one obvious reason: The Middle East does not need more weapons; it needs more peace.”
Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente added that the refusal was consistent with the government’s decision not to grant licenses for exporting weapons to Israel because Madrid doesn’t “want to contribute to the war.”
The officials’ announcements came amid an ongoing spat between Spain’s ruling Socialists and their hard-left partners over allowing the transit of vessels carrying arms to Israeli ports. The dispute exploded over the German owned cargo ship Borkum, which is due to dock in Cartagena on Friday.
The leftist partners have asked for Borkum to be turned away, saying it’s shipping weapons to Israel, but Puente and others in the Spanish government have claimed it is transporting military material to the Czech Republic.
Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday teased his plans to recognize a Palestinian state.
Specifically, Sanchez said in an interview with TV channel La Sexta that on Wednesday he would announce the date on which Madrid, along with other countries, will recognize a “State of Palestine.”
Sanchez said he would only recognize a Palestinian state in a joint action with other countries and denied reports that the recognition would occur on May 21.
European Union members including Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, and Malta had planned to officially recognize a Palestinian state next Tuesday, according to the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell. However, Ireland’s foreign minister said in a new interview this week that the exact date is still being discussed.
Some European leaders, especially in Spain and Ireland, have been calling for countries to recognize a Palestinian state, arguing doing so would help foster a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which, they argue, would lead to lasting peace in the region.
Israel has warned European countries that unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip would effectively amount to a “reward for terrorism” that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the conflict — a point echoed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday.
“We will not reward the terrible massacre of Oct. 7, which 80 percent of the Palestinians support, both in Gaza and the West Bank,” Netanyahu said in a statement, referencing Palestinian polling that has shown widespread support for Hamas’ atrocities. “We will not allow them to establish a terrorist state from which they will be able to vigorously attack us.”
He added, “Nobody will prevent us, prevent Israel, from realizing our basic right to self-defense — not the UN General Assembly or any other body. We will stand together with our head held high to defend our country.”
Netanyahu’s comments came after the Israeli cabinet unanimously approved a proposal to oppose a UN resolution promoting recognition of a Palestinian state.
Spain has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel since Oct. 7, when the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas invaded the Jewish state from neighboring Gaza. The terrorists murdered 1,200 people and abducted over 250 others as hostages in their rampage, the deadliest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas, which rules Gaza.
In the aftermath of the Oct. 7 atrocities, Spain launched a diplomatic campaign to curb Israel’s military response. At the same time, several Spanish ministers in the country’s left-wing coalition government issued pro-Hamas statements and called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, with one member of the cabinet from the far left Podemos alliance falsely accusing Israel of “genocide.”
Spain, like many other countries around the world, experienced a surge in antisemitic incidents targeting the Jewish community following Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre.
The post Spain Says It Won’t Allow Any Israel-Bound Ships Carrying Weapons to Dock as PM Plans to Recognize ‘Palestine’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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FIFA Delays Decision About Suspending Israel Until Legal Assessment Is Complete
FIFA President Gianni Infantino speaks during the 74th FIFA Congress at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok, Thailand, May 17, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa
Efforts by the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) to have Israelis banned from all international matches due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war are on pause after the FIFA Council decided not to address the issue at the 74th FIFA Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday.
Speaking to the 211 member federations that gathered at the congress, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the FIFA Council unanimously agreed earlier this week that it will make a decision on the matter following a legal assessment. The congress supported the council’s decision, and a vote regarding Israel’s suspension did not take place at the meeting on Friday.
“Football should not and should never become a hostage for politics and always remain a vector for peace, a source of hope, a force of good, uniting people rather than dividing,” Infantino said. “This legal assessment will have to allow for inputs and claims of both member associations. The results of this analysis and the recommendations which will follow from this analysis will subsequently be forwarded to the FIFA Council.”
PFA submitted a proposal to FIFA in March that called on the governing body to suspend Israel from all international competitions. It called for “appropriate sanctions, with immediate effect, against Israeli teams,” citing alleged “international law violations committed by the Israeli occupation in Palestine, particularly in Gaza.” The motion also accused the Israel Football Association (IFA) of “providing moral, economic, and practical support to the occupation” of Palestinian territories. The proposal was endorsed on Thursday by the Asian Football Confederation at the 34th AFC Congress and PFA wanted the FIFA Congress to vote on the issue on Friday.
Infantino said FIFA’s governing council will instead “mandate independent legal expertise to analyze and assess” PFA’s allegations about Israel, and hold a special council before July 20 “to review the results of the legal assessment and to take the decisions that are appropriate.”
Speaking at the FIFA Congress on Friday, PFA President Jibril Rajoub said, “How much more must the Palestine football family suffer for FIFA to act with the same severity and urgency as it did in other cases? Does FIFA consider some wars to be more important than others and some victims to be more significant?”
“As I speak to you today, the Palestinian people, including the Palestinian football family, are enduring an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” he added. “We are witnessing the live, televised genocide unfolding in Gaza. I ask you to stand on the right side of history. The suffering of millions, including thousands of footballers, deserves as much. If not now, then when?”
IFA President Shino Moshe Zuares also spoke at the FIFA Congress and slammed the anti-Israel proposal, saying it has nothing to do with soccer.
“Once again, we are facing a cynical political and hostile attempt by the Palestinian association to harm Israel,” he added. “I am holding myself back … in the hope things can be better for the game for those who play in Israel, the Palestinian Authority, or those who play all over the world.”
He said soccer has successfully “broken down so many walls” and helped unite people, but there are some “who insist on using it to punish, to split, to taint with political motives and increase hatred.”
“I insist on using this wonderful game as a magic device to bond, unite, and heal wounds — mine, those of my people, and of any other nation, especially my neighbor’s,” Zuares explained in his speech, which also referenced the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel.
“Seven months after the terrible day, when football matches cannot be played in large parts of Israel, north and south, and over 130 Israelis are still being held in Gaza, it is injustice that even in these circumstances we find ourselves fighting for our basic right to be part of the game,” he noted.
The post FIFA Delays Decision About Suspending Israel Until Legal Assessment Is Complete first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Amsterdam Music Hall Restores Israeli Concert With ‘Tightened’ Security Following Outcry Over ‘Shameful’ Cancellation
The Jerusalem Quartet. Photo: Felix Broede
Amsterdam’s famed music hall the Concertgebouw has reversed its decision from earlier this week to cancel performances by the Israeli group Jerusalem Quartet amid concerns about anti-Israel protests taking place at the venue and around the city.
The Jerusalem Quartet was originally scheduled to perform at the Concertgebouw on Thursday and Saturday. The first show was cancelled, but Saturday’s show will take place inside the venue’s Recital Hall with “tightened security measures, adjusted visitor flow, and an adjusted start time,” the concert hall announced on Thursday. The in-person concert is sold out but will be available via livestream on the Concertgebouw’s website.
“The earlier decision to reschedule the planned concerts has been met with understanding as well as disapproval,” the Concertgebouw acknowledged, after organizers were called “cowards” and accused of capitulating to “bullying and terrorism” for its “shameful” decision on Tuesday to cancel performances by the Jerusalem Quartet.
“Every concert must be able to go ahead,” said the venue’s General Manager, Simon Reinink. “The Concertgebouw fully supports its mission to connect and enrich everyone with sublime music, regardless of background, religion, culture, or any distinction. We must continue to stand up for the free society we want to be. Every day.”
The Concertgebouw originally cancelled the Jerusalem Quartet’s two concerts because it said it could not guarantee the safety of the venue’s employees, visitors, and musicians while multiple anti-Israel demonstrations were set to take place in the area. Reinink said social media users also urged the public to demonstrate at the Concertgebouw and the music hall received “a flood of messages” from people who opposed the Jerusalem Quartet’s appearance at the venue, likely due to the Israel-Hamas war.
On Thursday, the venue further elaborated on its original decision to cancel the shows.
“A particular factor was that concerts were scheduled simultaneously in the Main Hall and Recital Hall; with so many visitors, the security situation could have become precarious if disturbances had occurred,” said the Concertgebouw. “The recent demonstrations in and around the University of Amsterdam were the direct and only reason to take this decision. The Concertgebouw felt the risk was too great. This decision was taken solely on the basis of our concerns for the safety of all those involved. With the extra security measures now in place, and changes to the start time and visitor flow, we are able to let the concert on May 18 go ahead.”
The Jerusalem Quartet shared news about the restoration of Saturday’s concert on its Instagram page, and thanked “all the people who supported us and helped make this happen.” They also commented on the original cancellation of their shows, saying that “due to violence in the streets, and threats to the Concertgebouw, ours were the only concerts cancelled, which evokes memories of darker times for Jewish artists in Europe.”
“Our quartet has a decades-long relationship with Concertgebouw, and we have a loyal and committed audience in The Netherlands,” added the string quartet, which is comprised of two violinists, a cellist and a violist. “We will not allow this bond to be broken and want to assure our audiences that we will continue to perform and share our music with them.”
The post Amsterdam Music Hall Restores Israeli Concert With ‘Tightened’ Security Following Outcry Over ‘Shameful’ Cancellation first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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