Miriam Adelson

Miriam Adelson was born Miriam Farbstein in Tel Aviv in 1945 to parents who fled Poland before the Holocaust. Her family settled in Haifa, where she came of age before earning a Bachelor of Science in microbiology and genetics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a medical degree — magna cum laude — from Tel Aviv University Faculty of Medicine. She built a distinguished career as a physician, eventually serving as chief internist in the emergency room at Tel Aviv's Rokach Hospital. Her marriage to casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and their shared philanthropic vision transformed her into the most consequential pro-Israel donor in American history. After Sheldon's death in January 2021, Miriam assumed majority ownership of Las Vegas Sands Corporation — a global casino empire — with a net worth estimated between $34.6 billion and $40 billion, making her among the forty wealthiest people in the world.

The Adelson Family Foundation gives approximately $200 million annually to Jewish and Israeli causes, the largest commitment of any private foundation with that specific focus in the world. Miriam and Sheldon together donated more than $250 million to Birthright Israel, the program that has brought hundreds of thousands of young Diaspora Jews to Israel for the first time. She owns Israel Hayom, Israel's highest-circulation daily newspaper, which she has used as a platform to support centrist and right-of-center Israeli governance. She also owns the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Her political giving has channeled hundreds of millions of dollars to Republican candidates who support Israel, with the 2024 election cycle seeing more than $100 million in support for Donald Trump and pro-Israel congressional candidates.

In January 2026, Adelson spoke publicly at the Israeli-American Council's 10th National Summit about the evolution of her approach to philanthropy — explaining that she attached her name to giving because others would follow her lead. The foundation's priorities span Jewish education, Israeli medical research, Holocaust memory, and pro-Israel political advocacy. At Rank 6, Miriam Adelson represents the indispensable financial architecture of the American pro-Israel movement — the philanthropist who, more than anyone else alive, turns conviction into institutional power.