The world lost a mensch in Sheldon Adelson
My connection with Sheldon Adelson was admittedly sporadic, greeting him at some high-profile Republican events, or in Newton, where he lived for a time, and where I serve as the Newton Republican Chair. But one encounter was particularly telling. When I saw him at a D.C. event, like just about everyone there, I elbowed my way for my three minutes with him. He hardly even blinked when I delved into political matters, until I mentioned that I was friends with his limo driver. His eyes lit up, “You know Rick?!” He wasn’t the least bit impressed with whatever senator or CEO I knew. All that mattered to him was that I was friends with his limo driver.
For a billionaire with a casino empire in two hemispheres, Sheldon Adelson had a unique affection for his staff, especially those who worked closest to him, valets and limo drivers. And the feeling was mutual. When COVID-19 struck and his casinos shut down in Las Vegas, Singapore and Macau, he could have easily shrugged and laid off his workforce. He didn’t. He continued to pay their salaries and health benefits for the duration. They were his loyal employees, and he wasn’t going to abandon them.
Adelson grew up in what was then the Jewish section of Dorchester. His father was a cab driver throughout his childhood. At age 12, he borrowed money from his uncle to get a permit to sell newspapers, moved into vending machines, and through a score of sometimes quirky yet successful business ventures, became a millionaire by the time he reached his 30s, even after building and losing his fortune twice.
When he died this past Monday, he had amassed $33 billion, making him the 28th richest person in the world.
His philanthropy in the Jewish community was legendary. He was the largest donor ($140 million) to Birthright Israel, which sends young Jewish adults on a free tour to Israel, and donated millions to Yad Vashem, the main Holocaust museum in Israel.
As the largest Republican donor for the past decade, he bankrolled much of Newt Gingrich’s 2012 presidential campaign, then backed Mitt Romney in the final. At the Republican Jewish Coalition’s 2016 spring meeting at his Las Vegas Venetian Hotel, presidential candidates lined up for the “Adelson Primary” to gain his support. Donald Trump won out in the end, eventually garnering tens of millions for both his presidential campaigns from the Republican casino mogul.
So loyal was he to Trump, when Ted Cruz gave his keynote speech at the 2016 Republican Convention in Cleveland and refused to endorse Trump for President, Sheldon had his security guards turn the senator away from his high-end reception later that night.
Sheldon Adelson was such a stalwart Republican, when I happened upon him one recent Yom Kippur at his preferred local synagogue, my mere mention that the synagogue had held a big event for Elizabeth Warren right before her re-election caused him to find the door five minutes later.
At a Republican Jewish Coalition event that hosted a who’s who of Republican Congressional leaders, when the speeches ended and the velvet ropes lifted, the throngs converged not on them but to Adelson on his electric scooter.
A close ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he detested the bad press the PM was getting, so he bought a newspaper to help bolster him, making it the most popular newspaper in Israel for several years.
Adelson’s public philanthropy aside, when his sister died he was so impressed at how her synagogue handled the funeral arrangements, he paid off their entire debt. Recently, Jonathan Pollard, who spied on the U.S. for Israel and spent nearly three decades in prison, was finally allowed to move to Israel. Even though he abhorred Pollard’s crime, Adelson nevertheless flew the cashstrapped Pollard and his wife on his private plane to Israel.
There are many such instances, mostly out of public view, in which Sheldon Adelson intervened to help someone or some cause when it mattered most. He was the uncommon billionaire philanthropist, quiet, modest and generous to the point where he’ll be always remembered as a mensch, a righteous man.