Miriam Adelson Biography: The Physician Who Became One of the World’s Richest Women

Miriam Adelson is an Israeli-American physician, billionaire businesswoman, philanthropist, and one of the largest political donors in the United States. Born Miriam Farbstein on October 10, 1945, in Tel Aviv, she trained as a medical doctor specializing in addiction medicine before marrying casino magnate Sheldon Adelson in 1991. Following his death in January 2021, she became the controlling shareholder of Las Vegas Sands Corporation and, through her family, co-owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. As of 2026, her net worth is estimated in the range of $30–40 billion, depending on the source and market conditions, placing her among the wealthiest women alive.

Quick Facts About Miriam Adelson

Who Is Miriam Adelson?

Miriam Adelson is best known today as the majority owner of Las Vegas Sands, the casino and resort operator her late husband Sheldon Adelson founded. But long before she became a billionaire, she built a respected career as a physician focused on addiction medicine — a field she has continued to fund and champion for decades. She is also the publisher of the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom and, alongside her family, owns the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Beyond business, Adelson has become one of the most influential financial backers of the Republican Party and of former President Donald Trump, a role that has made her a recurring figure in American political coverage.

Early Life and Education

Miriam Adelson was born in 1945 in Tel Aviv, then part of British Mandatory Palestine, to Polish Jewish parents who had fled Europe before the Holocaust; several relatives, including her grandparents, did not survive it. Her father, Simha Farbstein, was associated with the left-wing Mapam political party and later ran movie theaters in Haifa, where the family relocated during the 1950s.

She completed her schooling at the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa before fulfilling mandatory service in the Israeli military as a medical officer. She then pursued higher education, earning a Bachelor of Science in microbiology and genetics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, followed by a medical degree — graduating magna cum laude — from Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine.

What Did Miriam Adelson Study Before Medicine?

Before specializing in medicine, Adelson studied microbiology and genetics, a scientific foundation that later informed her research into the biology of drug addiction and chemical dependency.

Career Journey: From Physician to Billionaire Businesswoman

Medical Career (1970s–1990s)

Adelson’s professional life began in clinical medicine. She worked as an internist and eventually became chief internist in the emergency room of Tel Aviv’s Rokach (Hadassah) Hospital. During the 1980s, she also conducted research at Rockefeller University in New York, studying opioid addiction and its links to the spread of HIV among drug users — work that shaped her lifelong focus on treating substance abuse as a medical disease rather than a moral failing.

In 1993, she founded a research clinic and substance-abuse treatment center at Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center.

Meeting and Marrying Sheldon Adelson (1991)

Miriam met Sheldon Adelson, a self-made entrepreneur who would go on to found Las Vegas Sands, and the two married in 1991. It was her second marriage; she had previously been married to physician Ariel Ochshorn, with whom she had two daughters, before that marriage ended by 1986.

Building the Adelson Business and Philanthropic Empire (1990s–2021)

Together, the Adelsons built Las Vegas Sands into one of the world’s largest casino and resort operators, with integrated resorts across Las Vegas, Macao, and Singapore. In 2000, the couple opened the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Research Clinic in Las Vegas, dedicated to opioid-use-disorder treatment, and in 2006 they established the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation to fund biomedical research into serious illnesses.

Sheldon Adelson died in January 2021 at age 87. His death marked a turning point: Miriam Adelson inherited effective control of the family’s stake in Las Vegas Sands and stepped into a far more prominent leadership role in the business.

Post-2021: Leading Las Vegas Sands and Entering Sports Ownership

After becoming the company’s controlling shareholder, Adelson oversaw major strategic decisions, including the 2022 sale of the company’s original Las Vegas Strip properties — the Venetian Resort and the Sands Expo and Convention Center — to Apollo Global Management and Vici Properties for $6.25 billion, a move that shifted Las Vegas Sands’ focus entirely to its Asian resorts in Macao and Singapore.

In 2023, the Adelson family acquired majority ownership of the Dallas Mavericks from Mark Cuban, entering the world of professional sports ownership. Her management of the team has drawn scrutiny, most notably over the widely criticized 2025 trade of star player Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers, which triggered public backlash from Mavericks fans and speculation about the franchise’s long-term plans, including a reported 2026 interest in redeveloping a site in downtown Dallas.

Major Achievements and Notable Work

• Founded addiction-treatment clinics in both Israel (Tel Aviv, 1993) and the United States (Las Vegas, 2000), advancing addiction medicine as a recognized clinical specialty.
• Established the Adelson Medical Research Foundation (2006) to fund research into life-threatening diseases.
• Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018 for her contributions to medicine and philanthropy.
• Became majority owner of Las Vegas Sands, one of the largest casino-resort operators globally, following her husband’s death in 2021.
• Co-owns the Dallas Mavericks, an NBA franchise, since 2023.
• Publisher of Israel Hayom, a major Israeli newspaper, and co-owner of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
• One of the largest individual political donors in U.S. history, having contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to Republican campaigns and causes since the 2010s.

Personal Life

Adelson has been married twice. Her first marriage, to physician Ariel Ochshorn, produced two daughters, Sivan and Yasmin, before ending in the mid-1980s. She married Sheldon Adelson in 1991, and the couple had two children together, in addition to Sheldon’s children from his prior marriage. Sheldon Adelson passed away in January 2021 at the age of 87 after a long illness.

She holds Israeli and American citizenship, having become a naturalized U.S. citizen after relocating in the mid-1980s. She sits as a voting member on the University of Southern California’s board of trustees and has backed institutions such as Ariel University’s medical school in the West Bank.

Is Miriam Adelson Still Involved in Politics?

Yes. Adelson remains one of the most prominent Republican donors in the United States and a leading supporter of Donald Trump, having contributed to his 2016 and 2020 campaigns, his presidential inauguration, and various affiliated political action committees, according to Federal Election Commission disclosures and reporting from outlets including Bloomberg and Reuters.

Net Worth and Financial Influence

Estimates of Miriam Adelson’s net worth vary across financial publications, reflecting fluctuations in Las Vegas Sands’ stock price and differing valuation methods. Recent 2025–2026 estimates from Forbes and Bloomberg have placed her fortune in a broad range of roughly $30 billion to over $40 billion, consistently ranking her among the world’s 50 to 65 wealthiest individuals. Her wealth is concentrated primarily in her family’s majority stake in Las Vegas Sands, alongside holdings in the Dallas Mavericks and various trusts.

Beyond personal wealth, her financial influence extends into:

1. Philanthropy — the Adelson Family Foundation reportedly distributes roughly $200 million annually to Jewish and Israeli causes.
2. Political funding — tens of millions of dollars channeled to Republican-aligned super PACs each election cycle.
3. Media ownership — control over influential outlets in both Israel and the United States.

Legacy and Current Status

Miriam Adelson’s legacy bridges two distinct worlds: medicine and mega-business. Her decades of work in addiction research helped legitimize substance-abuse treatment as a serious clinical field, while her stewardship of Las Vegas Sands after 2021 cemented her as one of the most powerful women in global business. As of 2026, she continues to run the company’s Asia-focused resort operations, co-own the Dallas Mavericks, publish Israel Hayom, and remain one of the most closely watched donors in American politics ahead of future election cycles.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)