Sheldon Adelson, billionaire CEO of the Las Vegas Sands casino group and longtime conservative mega-donor, has endorsed Donald Trump for president.
“I am endorsing Trump’s bid for president and strongly encourage my fellow Republicans — especially our Republican elected officials, party loyalists and operatives, and those who provide important financial backing — to do the same,” Adelson wrote in The Washington Post on Friday.
Winning Adelson’s support is no small coup for Trump, as he moves away from a campaign funded by small donations and his own money.
Adelson famously spent millions bankrolling former House speaker Newt Gingrich’s failed 2012 presidential campaign.
The casino magnate is the second billionaire to throw his support behind Trump. On Wednesday, oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens endorsed the GOP’s presumptive nominee, promising to host a fundraiser for a pro-Trump super PAC in June.
“Trump has created a movement in this country that cannot be denied,” Adelson wrote in the Post. “He will end this primary election cycle having garnered more Republican primary votes for president than anyone before.”