While Mark Cuban still owns 27% of the NBA‘s Dallas Mavericks and manages basketball operations, the families in charge of the Las Vegas Sands casino company have been majority owners of the franchise since December. That’s why Sands COO and Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont was on stage after Dallas won the 2024 Western Conference Finals, and why talk continues about what billionaire Miriam Adelson—Sands majority owner and Dumont’s mother-in-law—might do with the team.
The ownership sale from Cuban to the Adelsons was approved in December at a reported valuation above $4 billion; Cuban previously bought the team for $285 million from Ross Perot Jr. in 2000. “Never crossed my mind as an investment,” Cuban explained in 2019. “I did it because I love basketball.”
The widow of Sheldon Adelson, Miriam instantly became one of the richest owners in basketball while also being one of the few women in the top spot. The 78-year-old controls just over 50% of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation (LVSC) through her own shares and multiple family trusts.
Who is Miriam Adelson?
Born in Israel in 1945 to Polish refugees, Adelson studied as a physician in the country before coming to the U.S. to work and train as a substance abuse treatment specialist at New York’s Rockefeller University. There, she met Sheldon Adelson (reportedly on a blind date), who had divorced his first wife Sandra in 1988; the two married in Jerusalem in 1991. It was around that time that Sheldon purchased the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas before adding a convention center to his holdings.
The Adelsons became well known nationally as major donors to Republican politicians. After giving more than $10 million to support Donald Trump’s 2016 Presidential campaign, the couple were named as finance vice-chairs for his inauguration. So far, Adelson has committed to neutrality in the 2024 primary.
In 2018, Adelson was awarded the Medal of Freedom by Trump for her work as a “committed doctor, philanthropist and humanitarian.”
How much is Miriam Adelson worth?
According to Forbes, Adelson has a net worth of $32.3 billion, good for 44th globally. That also makes her the fifth-richest woman in the world, and the richest Israeli.
Who is Patrick Dumont?
Dumont, who is married to Sivan Ochshorn, Miriam Adelson’s daughter, rose to CFO of the Las Vegas Sands Corp in 2016 and COO in 2021. He is 49 years old as of February.
“As a family, we’ve been wanting to be part of the Texas business community,” Dumont told The Dallas Morning News when explaining the decision to buy the Mavericks.
Dumont has also stressed that the new ownership group intends to continue working with Cuban, giving him decision-making input given his experience with the team. However, he told a reporter in February, “Nico [Harrison] is the GM. And I’m the owner.”
That was clearer than ever on May 30, when it was Dumont on stage to receive the Oscar Robertson Trophy when Dallas claimed the Western Conference crown.
Why are the Adelsons and Dumonts buying the Mavericks?
While the Adelson family has rarely been linked to for-sale franchises in the past, they’re far from strangers to power players both within sports and within Texas.
Sheldon has been described as a “driving force” behind the Raiders’ relocation to Las Vegas, even though he eventually pulled out of a stadium financing agreement. “Sheldon led the charge to bring the NFL to Las Vegas,” former Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak said following Adelson’s death.
Meanwhile, the Sands company has become increasingly active in pursuing opportunities outside of Nevada after selling $6.25 billion worth of marquee Vegas properties to Apollo Global Management in 2022. That includes Texas.
In 2020, LVSC SVP of government relations Andy Abboud called the Longhorn state “the biggest plum still waiting to be out there in the history of hospitality and gaming.” Last December, Cuban expressed his hope of partnering with Las Vegas Sands to build a new arena inside a resort and casino in Dallas as Texas legislators continued to debate measures that would legalize various forms of gambling.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. is currently backing a petition to legalize gambling in the state, while an entity related to the company recently acquired 108 acres outside Dallas. Meanwhile, Adelson has continued her role as an active donor to political causes.
The Adelson family even has a Mavericks connection, as Miriam and Sheldon’s son Matan interned in the team’s corporate sponsorships department in 2016. Matan is now the owner and chairman of Hapoel Jerusalem Basketball Club after leading a takeover of the club earlier this year in a reported $20 million transaction.
How did Miriam Adelson become a billionaire?
Adelson is credited with being a “co-partner” in the Las Vegas Sands business as it expanded its holdings both in Sin City and in Asia. She’s also been called “the driver in the couple’s political and philanthropic activities.” The company currently has a market cap north of $36 billion, with Adelson being the majority shareholder following Sheldon’s death in 2021 from non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
At the same time, Adelson has maintained her care work, founding an addiction treatment clinic in Tel Aviv in 1993 and one in Las Vegas in 2000. Additionally, the Adelson family owns the Las Vegas Review-Journal and is the primary shareholder in free weekly Israeli Newspaper Israel Hayom.
What are Miriam Adelson’s philanthropic initiatives?
The Adelsons founded the Adelson Family Charitable Foundation in 2007, with reported plans to donate $200 million annually to Jewish and Israeli causes, including Birthright Israel. They have also been public supporters of the Israeli-American Council, a Holocaust museum and memorial in Jerusalem, a Jewish day school in Las Vegas, a medical research facility in Boston, a medical school in the West Bank, and fundraisers for the Israeli military.
Adelson has been particularly vocal following recent acts of violence in Israel and Gaza. “If you condemn Hamas and then add a ‘but’ followed by condemnation of Israel, you’re dead to us,” Adelson wrote in Forbes Israel.
(This story was originally published on Nov. 29, 2023 and has been updated since with additional information.)
