Adelson wins Daily Mail libel action

Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson has won his libel battle against the Daily Mail, it was announced at the High Court in London on 19 March 2008. In a statement read in the High Court, the Mail apologised to Mr. Adelson and Las Vegas Sands for publishing a slew of defamatory allegations in an article which falsely linked them to the takeover of Manchester United by Malcolm Glazer.

The newspaper agreed to pay Mr. Adelson very substantial damages, pay Mr. Adelson’s and Las Vegas Sands’ substantial legal costs, gave undertakings to the Court not to repeat the allegations and agreed to report their apology on page three of the newspaper on 20 March 2008.

Schillings partner Gideon Benaim told the Court that none of the allegations were put to Mr. Adelson before publication. The Daily Mail’s publishers went on to make further serious allegations against Mr. Adelson and Las Vegas Sands in the course of the litigation, which they have also accepted are unfounded.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson has won his libel battle against British newspaper the Daily Mail, it was announced at the High Court in London today. In a comprehensive climb-down in Court, the Mail apologised to Mr. Adelson and Las Vegas Sands for publishing a slew of defamatory allegations in an article which falsely linked them to the takeover of Manchester United by Malcolm Glazer.

During a hearing in front of Mr. Justice Eady, the Daily Mail unreservedly withdrew the allegations made against Mr. Adelson and his company. The newspaper agreed to pay Mr. Adelson damages, pay Mr. Adelson’s and Las Vegas Sands’ substantial legal costs, gave undertakings to the Court not to repeat the allegations and to report their apology in Thursday’s newspaper. David Jones, the journalist who wrote the article, also apologised to Mr. Adelson and Las Vegas Sands. The costs and damages awarded to Mr. Adelson make the claim among the U.K.’s most expensive libel actions ever.

It is estimated that publication of the article and their near-three-year defence of Mr. Adelson’s claim will cost the Daily Mail’s publisher Associated Newspapers in the region of £4million ($8 million USD). The libel victory followed a judgment of Mr. Justice Tugendhat in February this year in which he dismissed with costs applications brought by Associated Newspapers aimed at staying the proceedings, awarding an interim payment of £70,000 to Mr. Adelson and Las Vegas Sands.

“The Daily Mail’s article was a wholly unwarranted attack on me and our business. It was based on a lie – the false allegation that I had secret meetings with Malcolm Glazer, a man I have never met – and proceeded to make wild and false claims about my personal life and my career,” said Mr. Adelson. “I was determined that the Daily Mail should be held accountable for telling falsehoods to its readers and for libelling us in the most egregious way. I am delighted that we have been fully vindicated and that the Mail has recognised that the allegations it made are utterly false. My motivation throughout has not been to win damages, but simply to vindicate my reputation through an honest acceptance of the facts by the Daily Mail. Finally after almost three years they have agreed to do so.”

Mr. Adelson is donating the damages paid by the Daily Mail to the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, which specialises in the treatment of cancer.

The article, published in May 2005, centred on discussions between Las Vegas Sands, Manchester United and Trafford Council over proposals for a casino adjacent to United’s Old Trafford stadium, which took place prior to Mr. Glazer’s takeover. Despite the fact that the negotiations had been conducted openly with Manchester United and a press release sent out on 9 May 2005, the Daily Mail reported that Mr. Adelson and Las Vegas Sands had colluded with Mr. Glazer in his bid to gain control of the Club, held secret talks before the takeover and attempted to conceal their involvement in the complex.

Gideon Benaim, a partner at Schillings, the London law office which represents Mr. Adelson and Las Vegas Sands, told the Court that the article depicted Mr. Adelson and his company as “engaging in cut-throat, ruthless and despicable business practices…and suggested that they routinely and corruptly bought political favour”. The article went on to make “serious and unpleasant allegations” about Mr. Adelson’s personal life. Mr. Benaim told the Court that none of the allegations were put to Mr. Adelson before publication. The Daily Mail’s publishers went on to make further serious allegations against Mr. Adelson and Las Vegas Sands in the course of the litigation, which they have also accepted are unfounded.

“Whereas most people would unfortunately not have the financial means to maintain such a long and expensive court case, Mr. Adelson, as one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, remained vigilant and tenacious in his pursuit of the truth and thus has been vindicated and rewarded for that tenacity,” said Schillings senior partner Keith Schilling.

Associated Newspapers’ lawyer Lindsay Hodgkinson told the Court the newspaper “unreservedly withdraws the allegations against Mr. Adelson and Las Vegas Sands… and wishes to apologise personally and publicly to them for the damage and distress caused by the publication of this article.”

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• Mr. Adelson is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp. The Las Vegas, Nevada-based company owns and operates The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino, The Palazzo Resort-Hotel-Casino, and the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas and The Venetian Macao Resort-Hotel and the Sands Macao in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Special Administrative Region of Macao. The company is currently constructing two additional integrated resorts: Sands Bethworks™ in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; and The Marina Bay Sands™ in Singapore.
• LVS is also creating the Cotai Strip™, a master-planned development of resort-casino properties in Macao. Additionally, the company is working with the Zhuhai Municipal People’s Government of the PRC to master-plan the development of a leisure resort and convention complex on Hengqin Island in the PRC.
• Mr. Adelson is one of the world’s leading philanthropists. The Adelson Program for Cancer Research has links to UK organisations, including the Royal Marsden hospital and others. In addition to the many other philanthropic causes his family supports, Mr. Adelson and his wife Dr. Miriam Adelson fund and operate the not-for-profit Adelson Drug Abuse Treatment and Research Clinics in Las Vegas and Israel.
• Mr. Adelson and Las Vegas Sands were represented by Schillings lawyers, and counsel James Price QC, Justin Rushbrooke and Godwin Busuttil of 5 Raymond Buildings.