HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – Tilman Fertitta, the Houston-based restaurateur and casino owner, has seen roughly one-third of his wealth wiped out — about $2 billion — over the past month as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg News reports.
Fertitta, who was worth more than $5 billion last month, has fallen off Bloomberg’s list of the 500 richest people in the world. Bloomberg currently estimates his net worth at approximately $3.2 billion.
The COVID-19 outbreak forced Fertitta to close his Golden Nugget casinos and temporarily furlough about 40,000 employees across his restaurants, hotels and casinos nationwide.
Best known to television audiences as the star of CNBC’s Billion Dollar Buyer, Fertitta also recently published a business-advice book titled “Shut Up and Listen.”
Born in Galveston, Fertitta took on substantial debt when he purchased the NBA’s Houston Rockets for $2.2 billion in 2017. The basketball season has been suspended because of the pandemic, further affecting revenue streams tied to the franchise.
Fertitta told Bloomberg that government-mandated shutdowns are costing him millions of dollars each day. Locations that remain open for takeout are generating only about four to five percent of their normal sales, he said.
Landry’s, Inc., the Houston-based hospitality company wholly owned by Fertitta, operates a wide portfolio of restaurants. Those include Del Frisco’s Steakhouses, Willie G’s, McCormick & Schmick’s, Landry’s Seafood, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Rainforest Cafe, Mitchell’s Fish Market, Saltgrass Steak House, and New York BR Guest concepts such as Dos Caminos and Bill’s Bar & Burger.
Landry’s gaming division owns and operates the Golden Nugget hotel and casino properties in Las Vegas and Laughlin, Nev.; Atlantic City, N.J.; Biloxi, Miss.; and Lake Charles, La. The company’s entertainment operations include the Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier, the Kemah Boardwalk, and Aquarium Restaurants.
Hospitality holdings under Fertitta’s ownership include the San Luis Resort, Spa & Conference Center on Galveston Island and the recently opened Post Oak Hotel near Loop 610 in Houston.
Fertitta serves as chairman of the University of Houston Board of Regents and is an alumnus of UH’s Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management.
