Las Vegas Sands chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson has been awarded "very substantial" damages by a London high court after the Daily Mail newspaper accused him of underhand and corrupt business practices and falsely linked him to the takeover of a British football club.
Adelson’s solicitors said the settlement was one of Britain’s most expensive libel actions ever, and would cost the Daily Mail’s publisher, Associated Newspapers, approximately £4m.
In May 2005, an article in the Mail claimed that Adelson engaged in "cut-throat, ruthless and despicable" business practices and had colluded with Malcolm Glazer in his bid to take over Manchester United Football Club, so he could operate a gambling complex at the Premiership team’s Old Trafford ground (pictured).
"These allegations were all unjustified," Adelson’s lawyer, Gideon Benaim of Schillings solicitors, told the court. "As such, they represent a grave slur on Mr Adelson’s personal integrity and business reputation." Benaim also said that Adelson had never met Glazer.
In a statement issued by Schillings, Adelson said: "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."
Associated Newspapers has withdrawn the allegations unreservedly, and agreed to run a full apology in the Mail. The article’s author, David Jones, also agreed to apologise to Adelson.
