Gingrich's Rich Guy: The Rich Shouldn't Sway Elections

Sheldon Adelson doesn't like America's campaign finance rules—but that won't stop him from exploiting them. "I'm against very wealthy people attempting to or influencing elections," the very wealthy casino mogul tells Forbes. "But as long as it's doable, I'm going to do it. Because I know that guys like Soros have been doing it for years." Nor will he apologize. "I have my own philosophy and I'm not ashamed of it. I gave the money because there is no other legal way to do it."

And there's a lot more money where that came from. "I might give $10 million or $100 million to Gingrich," he says. That would be chump change for Adelson; his $11 million gift to a pro-Newt super PAC represents 0.044% of his net worth. He says he may donate to Romney or Santorum if they win the nomination, though he says reports that he met with Romney are untrue. He also says he won't pay for negative ads, glossing over the fact that his money primarily funded Gingrich's attack ad blitz in South Carolina. "That's what everybody says," but it's not true, he argues. "Most of what's been written about me in this is untrue." (More Sheldon Adelson stories.)