Miriam Adelson has been spending the final few weeks of the general election campaign doing something that might be unexpected for one of the richest people in the world: asking other people for money.
Ms. Adelson, the Las Vegas casino magnate with a net worth of $35 billion, has put $100 million into her pro-Trump super PAC, Preserve America, this year. The super PAC was totally funded by her, and it spent almost all of her money throughout the summer and fall. The super PAC, established in June when President Biden was the nominee, initially did not anticipate spending money to air television ads in October when it expected the Trump campaign or other groups to be shouldering much of the advertising load. Ms. Adelson was not eager to commit even more money, group officials have said.
Yet Ms. Adelson, a physician and a conservative megadonor, and her operatives have been eager to keep Mr. Trump on television in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan, especially given that he is being outspent by Vice President Kamala Harris and her allies. So other donors have said that beginning in early October, Ms. Adelson has been soliciting other billionaires to help bridge the gap to keep the group on the air through Election Day.
“We had an initial $100 million,” said Dave Carney, a senior adviser to the group. “We’re trying to raise more, and Dr. Adelson has been a fund-raising star getting more people on board.”
Super PACs formed by a single rich donor can struggle to raise outside money as fellow billionaires wonder why the patron won’t foot the whole bill. Ms. Adelson has raised over $10 million for her super PAC over the last few weeks, a spokesman for her said. Supporters of the group who will be made public in a Thursday filing with the Federal Election Commission include the conservative billionaires Liz Uihlein, Ronnie Cameron and Diane Hendricks, who gave $3 million, $2 million and $1 million, respectively. Mr. Carney said the group now had over 100 donors.
Ms. Adelson has also been collaborating on raising money for another pro-Trump super PAC, MAGA Inc. On Thursday, one person who considers Ms. Adelson to be a mentor — Jan Koum, the billionaire co-founder of WhatsApp — disclosed having given a $5 million check to MAGA Inc. earlier this month.
Ms. Adelson was planning to host an event for MAGA Inc. in Las Vegas earlier this month that would have featured Dana White of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Mr. Trump, but the groups called off the event because it came too close to the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Some donors had been asked for $1 million contributions in connection with that event.
Ms. Adelson has emerged as one of Mr. Trump’s strongest supporters, even though Mr. Trump has not always seemed especially appreciative. Mr. Trump told associates earlier this year that he expected Ms. Adelson to donate an extraordinary $250 million to back him — an expectation that it appears she will not meet.
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