Libel damages were undisclosed, and outside the high court in London, Adelson's solicitors, Schillings, said that publication of the anti gaming article and its near three-year defence of the claim had cost Associated in the region of £4m. Associated Newspapers, owner of the Daily Mail and staunch anti gaming stance, declined to comment, but it is understood that the legal costs have not yet been calculated.
In May 2005 the Mail descried the billionaire as a "ruthless casino baron who rules Las Vegas".
Today Adelson's solicitor, Gideon Benaim, claimed the claims represented a "grave slur" on Adelson's personal integrity and business reputation. Associated Newspapers withdrew the allegations unreservedly, apologised and had agreed to pay "very substantial" damages and Adelson's legal costs, the court heard.
The paper made the claim that he attempted to collude with Manchester United so he could operate a gambling complex at the club's Old Trafford ground. It alleged that Adelson and Glazer held secret talks before the latter's Man Utd takeover and attempted afterwards to conceal his involvement. One wonders if Mr Glazer may also have a claim.
"The article also made serious and unpleasant allegations concerning Mr Adelson's private life. It claimed that he had callously asked his wife for a divorce the night before she was to have a cancer operation, sending a friend to do this rather than asking her himself; and suggested that he had ruthlessly, albeit not unlawfully, stitched up his stepsons by buying their shares in one of his companies at a fraction of their true value."
Lindsay Hodgkinson, the solicitor for Associated Newspapers, told the high court that the company acknowledged at an early stage of the litigation that some of the most serious allegations made against Adelson and his company by the Daily Mail were unfounded. In the light of the detailed investigation of the remaining charges that had since taken place, it withdrew those charges also, Hodgkinson said.
The Daily Mail plans to run an apology tomorrow.
