Shelson Adelson’s reasons for secrecy still have not been deciphered.
Sheldon Adelson has been identified as the new mystery owner of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, after days of speculation about the identity of its purchaser. The Review-Journal, which has the largest circulation of any Las Vegas newspaper, sold last week for $140 million.
After its purchase, media members — including Review-Journal employees — sought to learn the identity of the new ownership group. At first, all that was known was the name of the holding company which made the purchase: “News + Media Capital Group”.
The lack of insight led to the charge the Koch Brothers had bought the newspaper, which they truthfully denied. It was clear the executives at New + Media Capital went to great lengths to hide their identity. Review-Journal reporters learned that Michael Schroeder, a Connecticut-area newspaper publisher, was the only one listed on the filings for the newspaper’s purchase.
Michael Schroeder’s Connection to Adelson
That led to speculation Sheldon Adelson was the new owner, because journalists were able to trace links between Adelson and Michael Schroeder. For days, the buzz was that Adelson, the chairman of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, was the potential new owner of the Review-Journal. Schroeder declined to name the owner, or even to elaborate on how he became party to the purchase deal.
On Tuesday, the New York Post identified Sheldon Adelson, the 18th-richest person in the world (8th-richest in 2014), as the man behind the purchase. Then Fortune Magazine cited two separate sources which identified Sheldon Adelson as the new owner of the R-J.
Patrick Dumont Negotiated the Deal
On Wednesday night, the Review-Journal itself announced that Adelson’s son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, was instrumental in the deal. The paper reported, “Patrick Dumont, who is listed on the website of Las Vegas Sands Corp. as the company’s senior vice president of finance and strategy, put together the deal at the behest of his father-in-law.”
Patrick Dumont married Sivan Ochshorn, the daughter of Miriam Adelson, in 2008. At the time, Dumont was described as a “New York lawyer”. In 2012, Patrick Dumont was one of several contributors on behalf of Sheldon Adelson to the Newt Gingrich’s SuperPAC, in the former Speaker of the House’s failed presidential bid.
Speculation on the Anonymity
Even after the Fortune Magazine piece and the Patrick Dumont disclosure, Sheldon Adelson has refused to acknowledge he is the owner. He told a reporter he has “no interest” in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. That leaves observers a bit mystified as to why he is so reticent to acknowledge he owns Las Vegas’s biggest newspaper.
Given the anonymity, the paper clearly is not a vanity project. Given the nature of the print newspaper business compared to the casino industry, it hardly can be considered a profit venture. One suggestion is Sheldon Adelson only wanted to keep the purchase secret until after the Republican National Debate at the Venetian Las Vegas on Tuesday night. That is contradicted by the continued denials after the debate.
The best guess anybody can make is it is an attempt to gain further influence in a swing-state in the coming 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. The problem with that theory is it’s hard to influence the editorial content of a newspaper, if no one at the publication knows who you are or what your political opinions might be. The whole matter is cloaked in secrecy.
Adelson’s Newspapers in Israel
Whatever the case, Sheldon Adelson is the new owner of the Las Vegas Journal-Review. That should give the casino mogul additional influence in the state, as it enters one of the most pivotal elections in recent U.S. history.
This is not the LVS chairman’s first foray into the print media. Sheldon Adelson has purchased several newspapers and media outlets in Israel. He owns Israel Hayom, the Israeli newspaper with the largest circulation in the country. Israel Hayom, which is handed out free to the population, supports the policies of the Likud Party, which is led by Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The Likud Party is seen as the Israeli equivalent of the Republican Party in the United States.
