Jesse Jane - BTS 8 - www.striplvgirls.com
Gary Nemeth - The Quiet General
Chances are, you have never heard the name Gary Nemeth. But if you are a fan of strip clubs in Las Vegas, you have more than likely visited one of the three clubs in town of which he is the General Manager: Little Darlings, Déjà Vu Showgirls and the brand new Vince Neil’s Girls Girls Girls. Having been in the industry for over 20 years, with the last 14 in Las Vegas working for “strip club king” Harry Mohney, Gary has lots of tales to tell. I sat down with him at Girls Girls Girls, to find out what it’s really like being the boss of Las Vegas strip clubs.
ER: You’ve run strips clubs for 20+ years – how has the industry changed?
GN: The girls have gotten so much better looking. There were NO girls that looked like that when I was in high school! It’s amazing!
ER: Even with that being the case, wouldn’t you say that now, especially in Vegas, the best looking girls aren’t dancers?
GN: For sure. One of the biggest changes is all the new huge mega clubs in the hotels. Before they opened, all the 8, 9, & 10’s worked in strip clubs.
Now if you are an 8, 9, or 10 in Vegas, you work as a bottle service waitress. It really isn’t that much different than a strip club – they all have poles, and the outfits they wear are so barely there – they are practically naked anyway. I’ll tell you this, the girls in the nightclubs probably do more and get away with more there, than they ever would dancing in a strip club. I know every time I have been in a nightclub in Vegas, the waitress has been at least a 9.
ER: As GM of an all-nude club, a topless club, and now the first-of-its-kind strip club, owned by one of the biggest rock stars on the planet: Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe, how different is your marketing approach for each of the clubs?
GN: At Little Darlings, we really push hard to get the younger 18+ crowd who are looking for a night out. Being all-nude with no alcohol, we strive to have our girls be performers, not just dancers. What I mean, is they don’t just pull off all their clothes and walk around on stage. Our girls at Little Darlings put on great shows, pole dancing, and theme shows – you name it. If it’s fun and entertaining, we will do it at Little Darlings. We also do a ton of different promotions, things no other club in town would even dare to try. We have done MILF nights, BBW nights, Grandma on the pole nights, just to name a few. We are really a promotion driven club there, always trying new things and new ways to make the strip club experience anything but run-of-the-mill. At Déjà Vu Showgirls, we also cater to a younger crowd, but being 21 and over with alcohol, our focus is getting the local crowd. We positioned the club to be a great value with lots of drink and dance specials all throughout the night. A lot of people want to go to a strip club, but don’t want the huge overcrowded and way overpriced product that our competitors offer. You can come down any night to Déjà Vu Showgirls and have a great time with beautiful dancers, have a few drinks, and still be able to pay your bills every month! And with Vince Neil’s Girls Girls Girls, we are in the process of figuring out exactly how best to use the niche of an all rock ‘n’ roll format.
ER: What are your expectations for Girls Girls Girls?
GN: I am sure that with a lot of hard work by our management team, Girls Girls Girls will be one of the better clubs in town, for sure.
ER: Do you think the rock music format is going to be enough to get the quality customer base you need to make it successful?
GN: Yes, the motto of Girls Girls Girls is: “Come for the Music, Stay for the Girls!” There is a huge demographic of people, both locals and tourists, who grew up listening to rock ‘n’ roll, who have nowhere to go in Vegas. Girls will fill that void, along with having beautiful dancers, and, will be the only strip club in the United States that will have live music every week, too.
ER: Are the girls going to be dancing to the live music, or is it going to be a concert venue that transforms into a strip club?
GN: The girls are always going to be there and be dancing. We are going to be both at the same time.
ER: Tell me about the evolution of the club. How does a strip club legend like Harry Mohney end up partnering with a rock ‘n’ roll legend like Vince Neil?
GN: I was sitting with a good friend of mine who does a lot of deals in town, Michael Politz, and we were just bullshitting about the business and what we could do to really change the game here in Vegas. We were just bouncing around ideas and he said to me, “What if I could bring Vince Neil onboard?” That sounded like a great idea to me! We continued talking through it and I was confident it would be a game changer. I went to my boss (Harry Mohney) and pitched him the idea. He thought it was a great idea. Michael talked to Vince, set up a meeting for them, and after a fairly quick conversation, they shook hands, and here we are.
ER: By all accounts, Vince is really, really happy to have his own club. How is it working with him? Is he a hands-on guy, or just hanging out?
GN: In the beginning I thought he would be a handful to work with, but I have to say, he’s really not. We have great communication. When I call, he answers, he replies to my emails, he is really into turning this club into something great – something really special that fits the whole Vince Neil persona. I know he was really happy the first time he came to the club and saw his name on the building!
ER: Is this going to be a one-off or do you see more Girls Girls Girls clubs opening around the country?
GN: Like I said before, if my management team does this the way I expect that they will, I have no doubt that there will be other Girls clubs across the country. I have really given them a lot of the responsibility to make sure this club is a huge success. They are working long hours and lots of days to see it through. I have all the confidence in them that the club will be successful and the first of many.
ER: Any plans for Vince to play live, either with Mötley or with his solo band?
GN: I know, I have thought about it, and it would be great. Honestly, I haven’t spoken to Vince about yet, but I assure you, I will. If he does play, it will be amazing, that’s for sure!
ER: You must employ 500 to 600 girls between the 3 clubs. How do you resist the temptation and stay professional?
GN: I admit that there have been times I have been tempted, for sure – speaking as a straight man, there is no way you couldn’t be. But like someone who works at McDonald’s, after awhile, you don’t want to eat McDonald’s. I am not saying I am jaded, I am just saying that after 20 years, I am used to my environment and comfortable.
ER: But McDonald’s hasn’t changed the menu in 20 years, and your menu changes almost every night!
GN: (laughing) Good point. But I am here to run the clubs and I do as best as I can to stay professional. Women are women, pretty much all the same. Guys will come into a club, see a woman topless or nude who he thinks is beautiful, and get totally caught up. After all these years, and after seeing SO many women, I just don’t get caught up in that.
ER: Do you remember the last time you walked out of the office, saw a girl on stage, and said, “WOW!”?
GN: Yes, for sure! The last time I saw a girl on stage and said, “WOW!” I dated her for a year and a half!
ER: How about the top 3 you ever seen?
GN: That’s a tough question (long pause). You know, I think the top 3 I have ever seen all ended up as my girlfriends at some point, and now all share the title of being my ex’s (laughing loudly). I guess I only date dancers…
ER: The addition of a big name celebrity (Vince Neil) to the topless industry seems like the last “new thing” that can be done to reinvent the strip club industry. Can you look into your crystal ball and tell me what, if anything else, could revolutionize the industry?
GN: I definitely have a couple more ideas up my sleeve for future projects, but no way am I telling you so all my competitors can get a chance to beat me to them!
ER: What are you most proud of professionally?
GN: Well, I received the “General Manager of the Year” award last year from Exotic Dancer Magazine, which was pretty great.
ER: Okay, that’s an award – I mean, what you have done professionally, that you hang your hat on and say to yourself, “That is a great achievement.”?
GN: I would have to say the turnaround of Little Darlings, the first club I was the GM of here in Vegas. When I took over, it was doing okay, maybe a couple of hundred people a night on the weekend and 40 or 50 girls. Now, on the weekends we are completely full, have over 800 guests a night, over a hundred girls a night, and a line out the door to get in. All that with no alcohol! As I said earlier, we came up with all the promotions and theme nights that really make coming to Little Darlings way more fun than going to a regular strip club.
ER: What’s the biggest challenge you face running the 3 clubs?
GN: At first, it was turning around Little Darlings. Now that it’s going really well, I reorganized the management at Déjà Vu Showgirls and they are really working hard to get the numbers up. I think the turnaround will be fast, just a few months, but we are well on our way. With Girls Girls Girls, there are quite a few unique challenges. We are starting at absolute zero, no employees, no dancers, no anything, and a bit of a stigma from what the club was and what happened before we changed the name and the brand. We are creating everything brand new for Girls and it’s going to be a process, for sure, to make it into the club I know it can be.
ER: When are you going to know you’ve made it? When will you be satisfied with what you are doing, that you can say to yourself: “It’s done. I am ready for a new challenge.”?
GN: I think I will know I have done my job the best when, on a Saturday night, all 3 of my clubs are filled to capacity with guests and dancers and the people leaving the clubs say they had a great time and they can’t wait to come back to see what else we have for them.
ER: Thanks for taking the time to chat, Gary. Congratulations on all your successes and on the Grand Opening of Vince Neil’s Girls Girls Girls.
GN: My pleasure. Make sure to tell all the readers of STRIP LAS VEGAS to be on the lookout for some very special offers in upcoming issues! SLV
Asian Smart-Ass CATHY ZUKIMOTO
Asian Smart-Ass
CATHY ZUKIMOTO
By Diane Kawasaki
Photography Santodonato
Makeup and Hair Christine Copleland
Cathy Zukimoto is a hilarious stand-up comedian who performs to sold-out crowds all over Los Angeles. As a “freshly single” woman with a statuesque physique and a gorgeous girl-next-door smile, she captivates her audience, while delivering edgy comedy and explosive laughter. On stage, she is uninhibited, raw, and looks as if she had just stepped off of a Sunset Boulevard billboard. Today however, she is very casual, wearing a “Believe us… size does matter” fitted tee, oversized sunglasses and jeans. We chatted in the ambiance of Aroma Café…
DK: What brought you to stand-up comedy in the first place?
CATHY: I was drawn to comedy because my insurance ran out and I needed therapy. Kidding. Although, I did have a tough time when I was younger. Not my parents, they’re great! I dealt with racism at an early age – teased for being Asian. Then as girls were developing, and I clearly wasn’t, things changed. Now the teasing was about being tall, skinny, and flat-chested. I was called ugly a lot, and even got dog biscuits thrown at me. In high school, I was never asked out on a single date or dance. Not even prom. I guess being in band didn’t help… I diffused the taunting by making people laugh. I guess it made it a little harder for the kids to tease me when they were cracking up??? I never thought I would ever be making people laugh on stage, because I’m
SUPER shy…
DK: Wait a minute, stop right there. You tell blowjob jokes in front of a room full of strangers. You’re shy!?!
CATHY: YES, I’m actually really shy. I never thought I could perform, because I had terrible stage fright. I also had this handshaking issue that I thought would never go away.
DK: You definitely don’t look shy on stage, but I’ll take your word for it.
CATHY: (laughs) I don’t think you believe me!
DK: Hard to believe, because I know you do nude shoots.
CATHY: One of my nude shots I did with Chad Michael Ward for a Metallica-themed art show just sold for 1K! And I have a bondage shot in a photo book by Justice Howard!
DK: But you’re supposedly shy….
CATHY: Okay, okay—admittedly, doing stand-up has helped me come out of my shell.
DK: Were you always interested in stand-up?
CATHY: When I was a little kid, my Mom used to call me ummaku, which I found out years later is basically Okinawan for “smart ass”. So I guess you could say I have always enjoyed being a goofball. I had always wanted to give stand-up a try. So I wrote some jokes and I read them to my husband and he said, “I think you should stick to filmmaking,” so I dropped it. Years later, I met Bobbie Oliver at a comedy show and told her I loved stand-up, but could never imagine doing it. She told me about her comedy classes and encouraged me to give it a try. I was going through a divorce at the time, so he wasn’t around to tell me not to… so I was like, “Fuck it, why not?” I loved the class, but didn’t realize there was a showcase at the end… My first show was sold out and I was terrified!! There were a couple of producers in the audience who approached me for more shows. I hadn’t planned to do more, but why turn down these opportunities just because I’m scared? So I went with it, and I am so grateful for every request I get from these amazing people in my life. I am very blessed.
DK: Getting kind of spiritual here…
CATHY: Sorry, should I talk about my BJ jokes?
DK: Speaking of that, let’s ask what the guys want to know. When it comes to dating, what are you looking for?
CATHY: First of all, I have always said: “Love is a gift. The wrapping shouldn’t matter.” I’m not bi, but I wouldn’t want to miss the potential of meeting the love of my life just because she happens to be a girl. To be clear, I love cock and I’m not seeking a female relationship, but hey, I wouldn’t rule it out, either.
DK: I swear I learn more about you every time we hang out. From your Cougar jokes, it seems you date young models?
CATHY: (laughs) OK, first of all, who says no to a model?? This whole cougar phenomenon has been really working in my favor. Most male models have mommy issues – I am totally willing to help them out with those. I’ve also dated comics and realized that dating a comic equals being a fulltime baggage handler.
DK: Are you actually “routining” me right now? Your own friend?
CATHY: Busted! Yes, I’m sorry. OK, I don’t have a specific type. I’ve dated people of all ages and all different body types. I will admit I’m a HUGE Duran Duran fan, so English men have a fast pass to the V… I mean, my heart. I’m very attracted to creative types—photographers, writers, actors, singers, painters, etc. I also love nerdy guys, because I’m a huge Sci-Fi fan.
DK: You’re into Sci-Fi?
CATHY: I go to the conventions! I’m a huge frickin’ fan of Battle Star Galactica, Firefly, Star Wars, and I love all comic-related movies! I wore a Captain America T-Shirt when I saw Captain America, on a first date! I guess I’m kind of a dork?
DK: Kind of? (sigh) What would you describe as a perfect date?
CATHY: I enjoy any event that supports local artists. I’d end the night at a quiet bar, because I hate places where you can’t hear the person sitting next to you. As a blanket release, I say to anyone dating a comic: be prepared to become a part of their routine. SLV
THE MEN WHO MADE LAS VEGAS –the 15TH in a series by BYRON CRAFT SHELDON ADELSON THIRD RICHEST MAN
THE MEN WHO MADE LAS VEGAS
–the 15TH in a series by BYRON CRAFT
SHELDON ADELSON
THIRD RICHEST MAN
He is hardly a household name, even if he has moved into third place as the richest man in the United States. While his fame factor may not be high, his list of achievements in the resort and casino industry is, to say the least, extensive and impressive. Prior to his foray into that world, he had founded and developed more than fifty companies with varying degrees of success and failure.
His name is Sheldon Adelson and he and his partners made serious waves in the Las Vegas casino industry.
Sheldon Gary Adelson was born somewhere around August of 1933 or 1934, in Massachusetts. The exact year, as well as the date in August, has been obscured by varying accounts in several biographies. His parents, Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, had emigrated from the Russian empire and settled in Bean Town’s Dorchester, a lower class section of Boston. His father was a taxi driver and his mother ran a knitting store.
Before the age of 10, Adelson began selling newspapers on local street corners, and by the age of twelve he became a junior entrepreneur. He started his own business selling toiletry kits. Following high school, Sheldon enrolled at City College of New York and majored in corporate finance and real estate, but dropped out before earning enough credits for a degree. Mortgage broker, investment adviser and financial consultant were just some of the titles he held in the years to follow, during which time he also took part in the development of several dozen businesses, many of which flopped financially. After entering the U.S. Army in the 1950’s, he worked part time as a courtroom stenographer on Wall Street. The job started Sheldon thinking about how to become wealthy. By the early 1960s, Adelson had left the Army, and he created a charter tour business. Sheldon Gary Adelson was on the road to future fortunes.
Adelson attained millionaire status by charging companies fees for showing them how to start selling shares on the stock market. Now wealthy, he moved back to Boston and began investing in companies, eventually owning as many as seventy-five different ones. The price soared for shares of his tour and travel business, the American International Travel Service, his most profitable business. But he lost a fortune when the stock market declined in the late 1960’s, and consequently, he ran up many debts.
Adelson soon rebounded in the real estate brokerage business by arranging condominium conversions in Boston when he bought a residential apartment building with the intent of converting it. Again he lost his cash reserves when the condominium market faltered. Still on the lookout for opportunities, Adelson caught a big break in 1971 when he acquired a majority share of a small company that published magazines, among them was a computer oriented publication titled Data Communications User. The pieces all came together while he was attending a trade convention on condominiums in Anaheim, California. Sheldon read that a magazine about condominiums had produced the show. That was when the epiphany struck. He reasoned that he could use his own publication to produce a show about computers.
His first computer show was in Dallas in 1973. By 1975, he sold his share in the publishing company but held onto the show. He then sold his condominium building. With these cash assets in hand he was able to launch The Interface Group, which concentrated on the computer show. The tradeshow grew slowly, garnering only $250,000 in revenues until 1979. Adelson shifted gears and created the Computer Dealer Expo, known today as COMDEX, which took place at the MGM Grand (now Bally’s) in Las Vegas. COMDEX was designed to bring computer manufacturers and resellers together. It was intended for small computer dealers, but it took off, and by 1984, The Interface Group was producing forty shows a year. COMDEX alone eventually grossed $20 million. COMDEX became the largest trade show produced in Las Vegas, with 100,000 attendees in 1987 and 125,000 in 1988. The exhibitors showcase proved to be a long running and very profitable enterprise. Adelson’s show hit just as IBM, Apple, and other brands of personal computers and accessories became a huge international industry. By the late 1980’s, the company’s net income reached $250 million. Sheldon Adelson produced other COMDEX shows in other U.S. cities and in Europe and Japan. Interface succeeded by extracting large fees from exhibitors, as high as $50 a square foot in the Las Vegas Convention Center, for which Interface paid only fifteen cents a square foot. Today, COMDEX is the world’s largest computer trade show and operates in over twenty countries.
At the close of the 1980’s, Adelson and his partners from Interface, which also owned two travel companies and several passenger aircraft, decided to hunt for a resort property to use as a home base in Las Vegas. After several overtures to owners of the Dunes, Frontier, and Aladdin hotels, the partners settled on the Sands, the former hangout of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack. The Sands was owned by casino developer Kirk Kerkorian. The Interface Group bought the venerable but aging casino for $128 million. Their plan: to bring into Las Vegas a new source of business from the exhibition industry.
The redesign scheme for the Sands included a 150 million dollar new resort and shopping mall and a $60 million private convention center for Interface’s and other shows. At the time, Sheldon Adelson, as he would for years to come, had open disputes with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority which operated and sold space for the Las Vegas Convention Center. The dispute was over fees charged to COMDEX. Adelson later complained that the LVCVA’s room taxes were too high and their shows unfairly competed with shows in his convention center. He even advocated abolishing the LVCVA, arguing it was no longer needed to promote Las Vegas. Unfortunately Adelson’s plans hit a snag in 1989, when his handpicked choice to run the Sands, Henri Lewin, ran into licensing problems with the Nevada State Gaming Control Board. Board members claimed Lewin had not been truthful with them in testimony about a lawsuit brought by a woman who charged that he tried to assault her while he was chief executive of the Las Vegas Hilton. The board cited problems with a partner in Adelson’s company as well, alleging past associations with criminals. As for Adelson, the board’s investigation revealed many past lawsuits he had filed against creditors to reduce his debts. Sheldon Adelson fought back with connections he had with local and state politicians. They praised Lewin and the Sands project for being good for Las Vegas. While the gaming board voted 3-0 against licensing Lewin, the Nevada Gaming Commission overruled it and agreed to grant Lewin a limited license, with the caveat that he could not run the casino or share in its profits. All five of Sheldon Adelson’s partners received licenses.
They re-opened the Sands in 1989 and embarked on the new building plans to build the Sands Expo Center, a 1.2 million square foot convention and showroom; the only privately owned and operated convention center in the United States. When 1990 came around, the U.S. economy was at a standstill and money became difficult to borrow from banks. Adelson put his expansion plans on hold. In 1991, Sheldon Adelson married physician Miriam Ochshorn. While on their honeymoon in Venice, Italy, he was inspired by the grandeur of Venice and he conceived a Venice-themed mega-resort hotel and casino.
By the mid-90’s, the economy and lending markets improved. Adelson and his partners sold The Interface Group Show Division, including the COMDEX shows, to SoftBank Corporation of Japan for $862 million; Adelson’s share was over $500 million. He was now better able to raise funds from Wall Street, and was free of his Interface partners.
He decided to raze the Sands and spend $1.5 billion to construct the Venetian. It commenced with an implosion… in a thundering crash, the Sandscame down. The all-suite resort was erected in its place, included several leading-chef restaurants, as well as a shopping plaza that featured canals replete with gondolas and singing gondoliers.
The Venetian underwent a major expansion in 2003, when 1,013 suites were added, giving the hotel 4,049 suites, an additional 18 leading-chef restaurants, another shopping mall with more canals and gondolas. The hotel proved both controversial, thanks to lawsuits with contractors, Adelson’s opposition to the Culinary Union, and its wild success. Sheldon Adelson showed that while he was relatively new to the hotel-casino business, he could make big plans like the best of his competitors.
Adelson’s Sands company reported losses at one point in 2004, despite high revenues, after it granted stock bonuses to executives and paid for the building expenses of a newly planned 3,000-room resort, the Palazzo, north of the Venetian, at a cost of $1.8 billion. The Palazzo, like the Venetian, was a huge financial success.
In late 2004, Sheldon Adelson sold off 10% of his shares in Las Vegas Sands Corp., which increased his overall net worth immensely. Adelson’s entrepreneurial insight had him looking beyond Las Vegas. He became the first American developer to build a casino in Macau, off the coast of China, in the center of a newly opened massive Asian gambling market. The one million square foot, 265 million dollar Sands Macao became the People’s Republic of China’s first Las Vegas-style casino when it opened in May of 2004. Sheldon subsequently planned to build seven new casinos, including the Venetian Macau.
Adelson made back his initial $265 million investment in one year and, because he owns 69% of the stock, he increased his wealth when he took his company, Las Vegas Sands Corporation, public on Wall Street in December 2004. The stock sale was an enormous success and since then Adelson’s personal wealth multiplied more than fourteen times. Forbes magazine increased Adelson’s ranking, thanks to his profits and assets, to the world’s third-richest man. According to Forbes, Sheldon Adelson’s holdings were valued at $20.5 billion.
In May 2006, Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands was awarded a hotly contested license to construct a casino resort in Singapore’s Marina Bay. The new casino, Marina Bay Sands, opened in 2010 at a rumored cost of $5.4 billion. In August 2007, Adelson opened the $2.4 billion Venetian Macao Resort Hotel on Cotai and announced that he planned to create a massive, concentrated resort area he called the Cotai Strip, after its Las Vegas counterpart. Adelson said that he planned to open more hotels under brands such as Four Seasons, Sheraton and St. Regis. His Las Vegas Sands planned to invest $12 billion and build 20,000 hotel rooms on the Cotai Strip by 2010.
Meanwhile, back at Sin City, Adelson became prominent in other ways. His wife, Dr. Miriam Adelson, ran the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Clinic for Drug Abuse Treatment and Research. The Adelson’s donated over $25 million to the Adelson Educational Campus in Las Vegas to build a high school. They also funded the Boston-based Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation. AMRF is a private foundation. This foundation initiated the Adelson Program in Neural Repair and Rehabilitation with $7.5 million donated to collaborating researchers at 10 universities. In 2006 they contributed $25 million to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority. The Adelson Family Foundation has made contributions totaling $100 million to Birthright Israel, which finances Jewish youth trips to Israel. Sheldon Adelson also founded and published the first edition of Israel HaYom, an Israeli newspaper. He had previously co-founded Maariv, another free Israeli daily.
Sheldon Adelson has received honorary degrees and other awards and has been a guest speaker at numerous universities, including the University of New Haven, Harvard Business School, Columbia Business School, Tel Aviv University, and Babson College. Today Sheldon Adelson is well into his senior years, but he remains energetic, enthusiastic and sharp as a tack. Currently he is heavily involved in politics as a major contributor to the Republican Party. This has kept him in the media spotlight more than anything else in his career. Originally a Democrat, Adelson became a Republican as his wealth increased. “Why is it fair that I should be paying a higher percentage of taxes than anyone else?” he once asked. He began making major contributions to the Republican National Committee following clashes with labor unions at his Las Vegas properties.
Adelson and his wife each contributed $250,000 to the second inauguration of George W. Bush. Adelson also became a principal financial backer of Freedom’s Watch, a political advocacy group founded to counter the influence of George Soros and Democrat-leaning lobby groups such as MoveOn.org. In 2010, Adelson donated $1 million to American Solutions for Winning the Future, a political action committee (PAC) supporting Republican former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
In December 2011, during Gingrich’s bid for the U.S. presidency, Adelson spoke favorably of controversial remarks Gingrich had made about Palestinians, saying “read the history of those who call themselves Palestinians, and you will hear why Gingrich said recently that the Palestinians are an invented people.”
For the 2012 United States presidential election, Adelson has said he will “fully support” the Republican nominee. On January 7, 2012, Adelson bolstered Gingrich’s then faltering campaign with a $5 million donation to the pro-Gingrich super PAC Winning Our Future. By the next day, the PAC had reserved more than $3.4 million in advertising time in South Carolina, which included production and distribution of a half-hour movie that portrayed Gingrich’s political rival Mitt Romney as a “predatory corporate raider.” Following her husband’s lead, Miriam contributed an additional $5 million to the same organization with instructions to use it to advance a “pro-Newt message.”
On February 17th, 2012, it was announced that Newt Gingrich’s struggling campaign was about to get a big boost from a billionaire casino mogul. Sheldon Adelson plans to give $10 million to Newt’s super PAC, CBS News and CNN reported. The new gift is on top of $11 million Adelson and his family has already given the group. The cash infusion has allowed the super PAC to be more competitive in the advertising arena, which Gingrich, as well as the Adelsons, hope to revive his sagging campaign.
Noting the media scrutiny his political donations have received, Adelson has asked why the political contributions of labor unions have not received comparable attention, noting that unions spend worker-provided money while his donations come out of his own pocket and are smaller. SLV
The Men Who Made Las Vegas is a series by Byron Craft chronicling the growth of Sin City and the men who made it possible.
