Sheldon Adelson unwilling profile subject of the New Yorker

There was a time when Sheldon G. Adelson seemed famous for his anonymity.

He built casinos, backed politicians and contributed millions of dollars to a variety of causes but stayed behind the scenes.

Now, thanks to a 10,000-word profile in the current New Yorker magazine, Adelson, 74, may get the recognition he deserves, though it may not be the recognition he wants.

Written by Connie Bruck, a New Yorker veteran, the profile chronicles Adelson’s rise from dirt-poor Boston beginnings to a person not just of national, but also of worldwide, influence.

In particular, Bruck reports that Adelson is working to drive Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert out of office because of Olmert’s support of the current Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

A billionaire many times over - he was third on the 2007 Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans - Adelson has expanded the casino empire that he began with the Las Vegas Sands to Macao, a Chinese administrative region.

A former Democrat who became a Republican in 1988 after a chat with William Bush, the brother of George H.W. Bush, Adelson this political season supported Rudy Giuliani in the early primaries. He now backs John McCain.

Adelson also has been a major funder behind Freedom’s Watch, an advocacy group that last year backed the surge in Iraq. This year, it has supported Republican candidates seeking open Congressional seats.

Over the years, Adelson, who is Jewish, has been a strong proponent of Israel. In particular, he has opposed the creation of a separate Palestinian state beside Israel.

To give his views wider impact, Adelson last summer started a free newspaper in Israel, Israel Hayom (Israel Today), reportedly investing $180 million.

He has also given strong support to Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu as a successor to Olmert. Netanyahu, a former Israeli prime minister, opposes the current Israel-Palestinian peace process.

Bruck writes that Adelson declined repeated requests for an interview.

She draws upon legal documents, previously published information and the statements of individuals (some anonymous) with connections to Adelson for her profile.

Bruck acknowledges in a disclosure within the profile that her husband, former U.S. Rep. Mel Levine, a Democrat, is a “Middle East foreign-policy adviser to the Obama campaign.”

She does not acknowledge that Levine, a lawyer, is also a former board member of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC.

Near the beginning of the profile, Bruck notes that Adelson had been a “generous donor” to AIPAC. However, he became angered with the group last year when it supported a letter from more than 130 members of Congress to President Bush urging an increase in aid to the Palestinians.

Richard Abowitz, who blogs on Las Vegas for the Los Angeles Times, requested a comment from Adelson on the New Yorker profile.

A spokesman for Adelson responded, writing, in part, that “The New Yorker … had already conceived the story they wanted to print and left no stone unturned in their efforts to seek out any source (mostly unnamed) with a personal or professional bias against Mr. Adelson.”

The response concluded by calling the profile a “fictional depiction of a successful, principled businessman who prefers to keep his private life exactly that.”

Tweet This! Share on Facebook

Click here to sign up for the Muckety Newsletter