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Billionaire Backer Of Right-Wing Causes Is Down On His Luck
The casino company Las Vegas Sands, which is owned by right-wing billionaire Sheldon Adelson, has said it may default on debt and face bankruptcy, reports Bloomberg. In trading today, stocks in the company plunged.
The news wire adds:
Today's admission comes after Adelson, who holds a stake of more than 64 percent, invested an additional $475 million in September to avoid violating the terms of a loan, and hired an unidentified investment bank to raise more capital with his help.
But as recently as July, Adelson, who is said to still have considerable resources, had assured reporters on a conference call the company will not have liquidity problems."
Adelson, a Bush pioneer, last year worked with ex-Bush-administration officials to found the group Freedom's Watch, which advocates an open-ended commitment to the war in Iraq. As The New Yorker recently reported, he's fiercely opposed to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue, and is a close ally of hawkish Israeli politician and ex-PM Benjamin Netanyahu. He has been a major contributor to AIPAC, and over the years has funded numerous congressional trips to Israel.
And in May, the Boston Globe reported (via Nexis) that Adelson has "waged some bitter anti-union battles in Las Vegas."













The Karma Police are coming for you, Sheldon. It's long overdue.
-AF
Andrew Sullivan Is A Fraud
November 6, 2008 3:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's still in the top 5 richest Americans. Bankruptcy will only hurt his creditors when they have to settle for less. He manages to screw people over even in adversity.
November 6, 2008 4:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's kind of bizarre to see major backers of the conservative movement decimated not by a new administration or the efforts of activists, but by the results of getting exactly what they wanted -- eight years of radical deregulation and politically-motivated non-enforcement of existing laws and rules. There may never have been a more spectacular instance of being hoist on their own petard than these bozos having their fortunes melt away because they were so spectacularly wrong about what the ideology they supported would accomplish if implemented.
It's actually pretty sweet, even more so because we tried to tell them how wrong they were.
November 6, 2008 4:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Very well said, Redshift. Nice.
November 6, 2008 5:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
RightWeb has a fine article from last week on the money troubles of Mr. Freedom's Watch - who apparently has never encountered a West Bank settlement he didn't like. And Adelson's not the only hawk in hot water:
"Another key donor of Freedom’s Watch, investor Paul Singer, whose company 'had minor exposure to the collapse of Lehman Brothers,' according to the Washington Post, has begun pulling back. 'One Freedom's Watch adviser familiar with appeals to Singer said efforts to enlist his eleventh-hour support have gone unanswered.”
Awwww...
November 6, 2008 4:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of d-bags.
John
November 6, 2008 6:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is this where McCain goes to shoot craps?
November 6, 2008 6:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kudos, Redshift.
-AF
Andrew Sullivan Is A Fraud
November 6, 2008 8:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
AIPAC, Netanyahu, no peace in Israel/Palestine or Iraq, Vegas billionaire, Freedom's Watch - can you get any more mobbed up than that?
November 6, 2008 8:32 PM | Reply | Permalink