Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson built his fortune on others' bad bets. But during this election, he went all in -- and paid for it. Adelson and his wife contributed $94 million in the 2012 election cycle, more than the next five individual contributors combined.
Nearly all the money went to conservative Super PACs -- supporting Newt Gingrich in the primary and then Mitt Romney in the general. (The irony being, of course, that the Adelson-funded Gingrich attacks significantly weakened Romney's chances against Obama.)
Despite the high stakes, Adelson came away nearly empty-handed on election night: Less than 10% of his money went to candidates who were ultimately successful. -- Chris Isidore
