Adelson Family Acknowledges Purchase of Las Vegas Review

The seller, New Media Investment Group, paid $102 million for the R-J and several smaller papers purchased from Stephens Media in February only to flip it for a $39 million profit last week.

He said he welcomes the Adelson family to the journalism neighborhood and that any success under the new ownership would be good for them both.

Adelson’s family confirmed they were the owners of Nevada’s largest newspaper in a statement in Thursday’s edition, ending a weeklong mystery.

The billionaire casino magnate is the mystery buyer of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“The lack of disclosure of the newspaper’s new ownership group compromises this publication’s ability to demand transparency of others”, it continued.

Schroeder said News + Media had been aiming to buy the newspaper for “six to eight months”.

At the debate, Adelson told CNN that he had “no personal interest” in owning the paper.

“We hope whoever bought it will allow journalists to produce journalism that is ethical, responsible, and thorough”, said Seaman.

The secrecy over the buyer drew interest across the media world, and criticism from some corners.

Adelson’s litigious history with the press also has been a cause for concern. “There are hundreds of local daily papers”, he said.

“One of the first thoughts I had was: Nevada is an early primary state”. Adelson is also the owner of the pro-Netanyahu Hebrew-language daily newspaper Israel Hayom, which is distributed widely for free in Israel. “Was it sold to a player in that event, or people who want to be players?”, asked media critic and New York University professor Jay Rosen.

The Huffington Post reported that the Review-Journal removed quotes from an article questioning the new owners decision to remain anonymous.

Others have been more skeptical of the family’s involvement, since Adelson is a major player in Nevada politics who has donated millions of dollars to Republican candidates across the country.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid in Washington on Tuesday told reporters he suspects – but has no evidence – that Adelson is the secretive buyer. The paper’s conservative bent, they said, made it a logical purchase by a rich Vegas conservative.

“I don’t think the community can accept the information in the R-J as credible if they don’t know who’s behind it, regardless of who that might be”, Titus said. “There is a lot of opportunity here”.

For the past few days, the media has played a parlor game called “Who’s the person who bought Las Vegas’s largest newspaper for $140 million and refused to reveal his identity?” “Details of the deal, including the sale price, were not disclosed”.

Ron Reese, a spokesman for Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corp., couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Schroeder, the only public face of News + Media, has been associated with Russel Pergament. A spokeswoman for the Journal, which wasn’t named in the action, has said the newspaper will continue to vigorously defend Ms. O’Keeffe in the suit, which is ongoing.

Pergament, BostonNOW’s publisher and CEO, is CEO of NAN Holdings, a MA venture capital fund that helped finance the startup of Jewish News Service.