From Slots to Press

Sheldon Adelson is known for his slots and his casinos. As the chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corp, he has made many major decisions over the years as it pertains to developing the casinos that the company holds around the world. They have locations in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Macau, and now it seems they are looking to go another way.

Adelson has decided to get into the business of publishing newspapers. A far cry from the slots of his casinos, the casino giant has chosen a Jewish newspaper to be his next foray into the business world. It seems to be a far cry from running slots, but that does not seem to be deterring Adelson.

Adelson’s new paper is called Yisrael Hayom, or Israel Today, and is already one of the largest circulation papers in the country – and took that title its first day of release. It is a free daily newspaper, and the first issue went out to the affluent neighborhoods across the country.

More than 100,000 newspapers were delivered, but not everyone is excited about Adelson’s addition of newspapers to slots. The Forward, an American based Jewish publication says that there are too many problems with the fact that Adelson is close to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

With Adelson throwing his hat in the ring, many think that he is simply an unwanted “intrusion” into the Jewish newspaper arena, and that he should go back to his slots. Adelson has reportedly pledged $180 million to the newspaper over the next three years.