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How did Sheldon Adelson meet wife Miriam? Casino mogul's business and charities were handled by her

The billionaire mogul and power broker died at the age of 87 after a long illness

Sheldon Adelson, casino mogul and power broker, has died after suffering from a long illness. He was 87. The news of his death was confirmed by his wife Miriam Adelson and the Las Vegas Sands Corp, ABC News reported. More details into his death are yet to come. Donald Trump Jr. paid tribute to him on Twitter by writing, “Sheldon was a true American patriot and a giant among men. He treated his employees like family. His philanthropic generosity changed countless lives. The US-Israel relationship is stronger today because of him. My heart goes out to the Adelson family.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also tweeted: “Sheldon Adelson’s life represents the best of the American dream. Susan and I send our deepest condolences and prayers to his family as the world mourns his passing.”

Sheldon was very popular in the business world. There was a time when he became the third richest man in the world. But he was not into business and politics from his younger days, and only became involved after hitting his middle age. The1990s and the period after saw Sheldon’s money soaring and his engagement in politics heightening. Sheldon became famous in 2012 when two $5 million checks were signed for Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign. One was signed by Sheldon himself, but the other was signed by Miriam Adelson -- his second and final wife -- whom he married in 1991.

Who is Miriam Adelson and how Sheldon met her?

Miriam is not a typical billionaire’s wife, but is an accomplished medical doctor, who also handles her husband’s business and philanthropic activities. Born on October 10, 1945, in Tel Aviv and growing up in Haifa, Miriam was a student of the Hebrew Reali School for 12 years before graduating with a bachelor of science in Microbiology and Genetics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She also earned a medical degree from Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Medical School and then joined Tel Aviv’s Rokach Hospital as the chief internist in an emergency room.

Miriam met Sheldon at Rockefeller after she went to Rockefeller University on an exchange program, specializing in drug addiction. The pair exchanged vows in 1991. Miriam was earlier married to Ariel Ochshorn, a physician, with whom she shares two children. But in 1986, she divorced Ochshorn.

After marrying Sheldon, the couple founded a substance abuse center and research clinic in 1993. Seven years later, they also founded the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Research Clinic in Las Vegas. Miriam is also the head of a clinic in Tel Aviv that treats heroin and cocaine drug addicts. The couple's interest in drug rehabilitation stems from the fact that Adelson's son, Mitchell Adelson, died in 2005 to drug overdose involving cocaine and heroin. 

Besides, reports stated that the 75-year-old is behind making her husband interested in furthering Israel's alliances with the US. Reports say she was behind all of Sheldon’s political and philanthropic activities. Michael Cherry, the associate chief justice of the Nevada supreme court, who sits on the board of the Las Vegas methadone clinic that the Adelsons founded, once said as reported by The Guardian, “Everybody says it’s Sheldon, but it’s Miriam.”