Sheldon Adelson Identified as Buyer of Las Vegas Newspaper

The story’s first sentence is a doozy: “The son-in-law of billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson arranged the $140 million purchase of the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Adelson’s behalf, sources confirmed Wednesday”. Speculation has mounted for days in that Adelson was the main backer of News source + Media Capital Group LLC, a secret group that acquired the Evaluate-Journal and a number of other local papers on Thurs. for $140 million.

The fact the owners remained shrouded in mystery since the announcement prompted many Review-Journal staff members to call for transparency from their new owners.

Because the LLC that bought the paper is based in DE, the Review Journal reported, the corporation is not required to publicly declare its owners.

Nevertheless, some digging by the RJ’s James DeHaven, Howard Stutz and Jennifer Robison not only revealed Adelson as the purchaser. The state will be the third in the nation to hold a Democratic primary (Feb. 20) and the fourth for Republicans (Feb. 23), giving it a pivotal role.

“It’s time for the new owners to take off their mask and prove they have nothing to hide”, Nevada congresswoman Dina Titus was quoted with regard to whoever is behind the new ownership, yesterday in the Nevada Legislature. The amount points to investors with deep pockets and a perhaps even deeper desire to own Nevada’s biggest newspaper even though the paper’s revenues, like those of all print publications, have been in decline.

Throughout its colorful history, Las Vegas has seen its share of shadowy characters and suspicious backroom deals.

It said that the 41-year-old Dumont, a NY attorney, in 2009 married Sivan Ochshorn, a daughter of Adelson’s wife, Dr. Miriam Adelson, from a prior marriage.

Adelson is expected to spend upward of $100 million this election cycle, making his endorsement one of the most sought after among Republican hopefuls. It put the editorial board in an awkward position during an endorsement interview with Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, who tweeted about the oddity of not knowing who, exactly, he might be trying to impress. “So I decided I’m going to speak on the floor”.

Experts say there has not been another case of a major paper being bought by a secret buyer for around a century.

“It’s hard to ask the public to trust a newspaper that is unwilling to reveal its ownership and their ties to other private interests”, it wrote.

The newspapers have a joint operating agreement, with the Sun delivered alongside the Review-Journal. The paper reported that Schroeder had worked with another man who now runs a news service that distributes content from one of the newspapers that Adelson owns in Israel.

“You certainly can’t keep it from the Justice Department”, Greenspun said.