USA TODAY US Edition

What to know about prospectiv­e Mavs owner Miriam Adelson

- Steve Gardner

Las Vegas casino magnate Miriam Adelson is in serious discussion­s to purchase a majority stake in the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks from current owner Mark Cuban.

The move would send shock waves throughout the sports world as the Adelson family enters the realm of NBA ownership.

Adelson, 78, is the fifth-richest woman in the world, according to Forbes. She is the widow of Sheldon Adelson, founder and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporatio­n, who died in 2021 at the age of 87. She took over majority control of the Sands Corporatio­n following her husband’s death and on Tuesday filed paperwork to sell $2 billion worth of company stock “to fund the purchase of a majority interest in a profession­al sports franchise.”

Who is Adelson?

The former Miriam Farbstein was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to Jewish parents who fled Poland in the 1930s.

A doctor by trade, she earned a bachelor’s degree in microbiolo­gy and genetics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an MD from Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine.

She was previously married to physician Ariel Ochshorn, whom she divorced in 1980. They have two children.

After coming to the United States to study heroin addiction treatment at Rockefelle­r University in New York, she met and began dating Sheldon Adelson in 1988. The couple married in Jerusalem in 1991.

She was born on Oct. 10, 1945. Last month, she celebrated her 78th birthday.

Does she have children?

She has two daughters from her previous marriage to former husband Ariel Ochshorn.

She and Adelson also have two sons, Adam and Matan.

What is her net worth?

Adelson and her family have an estimated net worth of $32.3 billion, according to Forbes, making her the fifthriche­st woman in the world.

She is the majority shareholde­r in Las Vegas Sands Corporatio­n, the world’s largest casino operator with facilities in Singapore and Macao. The company sold its assets on the Las Vegas Strip, including the Venetian Resort and the Sands Expo and Convention Center, in February 2022 for $6.25 billion, according to Forbes.

 ?? PATRICK SEMANSKY/AP ?? Miriam Adelson is the world’s fifth-richest woman.
PATRICK SEMANSKY/AP Miriam Adelson is the world’s fifth-richest woman.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States