Sheldon Adelson, casino magnate who influenced policy from D.C. to Jerusalem, dies at 87 Donald Frazier Sheldon G. Adelson, a billionaire casino tycoon and free-spending political donor who helped bankroll conservative candidates in the United States and Israel, and who pushed the governments of both countries to reject the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, died Jan. 11 in Malibu, Calif. He was 87. The cause was complications related to treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to a company statement. Mr. Adelson (pronounced ADD-ul-son), who fought his way up from an arduous childhood in Boston, was a vivid and polarizing character, a serial entrepreneur who transformed gambling in Las Vegas and Macao and brought the same bare-knuckled approach to the exercise of political influence.