Tilman Fertitta: The man behind the $17.6 billion Caesars Entertainment acquisition

From buying the NBA's Houston Rockets to developing a hospitality empire, Tilman Fertitta has built his career on bold decisions. But he's about to make his boldest decision yet: acquiring Caesars Entertainment for $17.6 billion. This will be the biggest casino acquisition in history, so it's no surprise that a big personality is behind the deal. Let's learn more about Fertitta's background.

Fertitta entered the restaurant business in 1980 as a co-owner of Landry's Seafood in suburban Houston. He spent the next decade-plus adding more seafood restaurants under the Landry's portfolio, eventually taking the company public in 1993. 

By 2011, he'd purchased all outstanding shares in the company, which was valued at $1.7 billion. Some notable names under Landry's include Bubba Gump Shrimp, Morton's The Steakhouse, Rainforest Cafe, and McCormick & Schmick's Seafood & Steaks.

Much of Fertitta's business success has been attributed to his ability to find undervalued assets, improve their operations, and build them into strong consumer brands.

Landry's and Fertitta entered gaming in 2005, purchasing the Golden Nugget Casinos in Las Vegas and Laughlin, NV. The company has since added more casino properties across the US, including resorts in Atlantic City, NJ, Biloxi, MS, and Lake Charles, LA.

In addition to these retail casinos, Fertitta oversaw Golden Nugget Online, one of the country's best online casinos. However, he sold this online brand to DraftKings Inc. in 2021 for $1.56 billion worth of DK stock.

While Tilman is no longer involved in running Golden Nugget's online casino games for real money, he still has a stake in the venture due to his DraftKings stock.

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In 2016, Fertitta entered the TV world as the star of CNBC's Billion Dollar Buyer. The show had a successful run lasting three seasons. However, Fertitta would eventually leave Billion Dollar Buyer to focus more on his growing corporation's expansions.

Part of these expansions included buying the Houston Rockets for $2.2 billion in 2017, outbidding singer Beyoncé Knowles. Fertitta had tried to purchase the team for $82 million in 1993, only to be denied.

Another interesting fact about Fertitta is that he's a third cousin of brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, billionaire owners of Station Casinos and the UFC.

In addition to his business interests, Tilman Fertitta has served as the US ambassador to Italy and San Marino since 2024. 

That said, it's interesting that he has still found time for an even larger venture with the Caesars purchase. The $17.6 billion acquisition will see Golden Nugget and Caesars combine to offer over 60 casino resorts around the US.

It will also put Fertitta back in command of a gaming site, with Caesars Palace and the Caesars Casino promo code now added to his portfolio. 

This iCasino is known for offering some of the top online casino bonus codes and one of the country's largest game libraries.

It will be interesting to see what direction Fertitta takes Caesars Entertainment moving forward. Based on his previous success in multiple areas, he'll likely score another hit with this massive acquisition.

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Jeremy Olson