Mystery Solved: Adelson Family Confirms They Bought The Las Vegas Review

A separate report from the Review Journal outed Adelson’s son-in-law Patrick Dumont as the orchestrator of the newspaper purchase.

Adelson – one of the richest men in the world and a passionate supporter of Israel – is routinely courted by office-seekers from the White House down, who make the pilgrimage to his business headquarters on the Las Vegas Strip to seek his blessing.

It is not as though Adelson is a political neophyte, or that his Republican leanings would represent a dramatic shift for the Review-Journal, which has long had a conservative editorial page and, critics say, a penchant for allowing those sentiments to bleed into its news coverage.

Today, the Review-Journal published its own front-page article highlighting the outrage in journalism circles over the mysterious sale-there are no other newspapers of any significance in the United States whose owners are not known-as well as clues that Schroeder has links to Adelson.

Tuesday, Adelson had reportedly claimed that he has “no personal interest” in the paper. Not disclosing ownership, they said, raises ethical questions about how reporters can possibly disclose conflicts of interest with the company that signs their paychecks. The ownership mystery surrounding the latest sale of the Las Vegas Review-Journal is capturing the a… It could have also been, as many speculated, Sheldon Adelson.

Copies of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are printed in this undated photo.

The family said its motivation for buying the paper “is simple… we believe deeply that a strong and effective daily newspaper plays a critical role in keeping our state appraised of the important news and issues we face on a daily basis”. He was once classmates with former President Bill Clinton at Georgetown University and has supported Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, while Adelson is a major GOP donor.

The paper’s secretive purchase immediately drew criticism from across the country, with the Society of Professional Journalists bashing the mystery owner for their lack of transparency, Jeb! Wednesday afternoon, 8 News NOW broke the news that Fortune.com was reporting that Adelson was the owner. That included one in which News + Media’s manager, Michael Schroeder, implored staff to focus on their jobs and not worry about the new owners.

Ken Doctor crunched the numbers and said the previous owner effectively flipped the newspaper for a profit.

“It undermines the basically credibility and trustworthiness that is part and parcel for the American daily press”, he said.

The Adelson statement said the paper was purchased through a wholly owned fund as an investment both financially and in the Las Vegas community. They pledged to invest in the paper.

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

The substantial premium Mr. Adelson’s News + Media Capital paid comes despite a tough environment for newspapers generally, with print advertising in decline.