Fertitta to step aside from his many businesses while serving as ambassador
Nearly three weeks ago, I took a deep dive into billionaire Tilman Fertitta’s nomination as the U.S. ambassador to Italy and how he might navigate the process given his extensive business holdings. We got our answer.
Billionaire casino owner Tilman Fertitta will step away as the top executive of his privately held, multibillion-dollar Houston-based corporation if he’s confirmed to serve a four-year term as the next U.S. ambassador to Italy.
In an 18-page letter to the U.S. State Department’s Office of the Legal Adviser dated last Sunday, Fertitta explained the steps he was taking under the rules established by the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to divest himself from the day-to-day operations of his company, though he will continue to receive “passive investment income” during his ambassadorship. U.S. government policy requires that he place his privately held business holdings into a trust or under the control of one of his top executives during the four years he hopes to serve in Italy.
The letter listed nearly 600 businesses — gaming and non-gaming — that Fertitta controls.
His gaming holdings include eight Golden Nugget casinos in six states — including three in Nevada — and nearly 11 million shares of Wynn Resorts. He became the largest stockholder in the Las Vegas-based casino operator last month with a nearly 10 percent stake, which has been termed by Wynn Resorts as a passive investment.
Nevada gaming regulators declined to comment on Fertitta’s announcement, but another top executive in the corporation would likely have to be licensed under state regulations covering a company’s key employees, such as the CEO. General managers of the Golden Nugget resorts in Las Vegas, Laughlin and Lake Tahoe have been previously licensed by the Nevada Gaming Commission.
According to the Gaming Control Board’s website, three Fertitta Entertainment executives are licensed in the state: Gerry Delprete, senior vice president of gaming; Richard Liem, vice president and treasurer; and Steven Scheinthal, vice president and secretary.
Other Fertitta holdings include Nevada outlets for restaurants such as Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Del Frisco’s, Landry’s, Catch, The Palm and Claim Jumper.
“I will resign from my positions with the entities,” Fertitta wrote. “I am eligible to receive a severance payment from Fertitta Entertainment, LLC, but I have elected to forfeit it. I will receive a lump sum payment of my deferred compensation plan following my resignation.”
Fertitta will continue to control the NBA’s Houston Rockets, which he has owned since 2017. He wrote in the letter that he didn’t need to divest his interest in the team per advice from the agency’s ethics office.
“My recusal from particular matters in which these interests may pose a conflict of interest will not substantially limit my ability to perform the essential duties of ambassador,” Fertitta wrote.
In an interview earlier this month, one foreign policy expert told The Nevada Independent that presidents are allowed to nominate whoever they want as ambassadors, which has led to most of the appointees having political connections as opposed to extensive foreign policy experience.
It’s unclear when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will consider Fertitta’s nomination, which was announced in December by President Donald Trump. He is the wealthiest of the president’s nearly 30 ambassador nominees with a net worth of almost $11 billion, according to Forbes.
In addition to being licensed by Nevada gaming regulators for his ownership of the three Golden Nugget resorts, Fertitta also owns 6 acres at the southeast corner of the Strip and Harmon Avenue, which he purchased for $270 million in 2023. Fertitta intends to build a 43-story, 2,420-room hotel-casino on the plot but has not moved forward with the project.
Is Carl Icahn again trying to influence Caesars Entertainment?
The last time billionaire Carl Icahn dabbled in Caesars Entertainment, the company was a financial mess.
So it might seem perplexing that the 89-year-old activist investor is following the same path he took seven years ago, which led to the company’s eventual $17.3 billion sale to the much smaller Eldorado Resorts.
When Icahn acquired an undisclosed stake in the casino operator last June, he told CNBC how much he liked the company and said he “would never do activism in Caesars.”
Caesars, which has 58 properties in the U.S. and Canada, said last month its net revenue in 2024 was $11.2 billion, with $4.2 billion coming from its Las Vegas resorts.
Icahn still loves Caesars, but he is no longer a silent investor.
Last week, Caesars announced it had installed two of his lieutenants — Ichan Enterprises general counsel Jesse Lynn and Chief Financial Officer Ted Papapostolou — to the company’s board. The move expanded the board to 12 directors, 10 of whom are independent.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission the day following the statement, Caesars said Icahn controls almost 10.6 million company shares — a little less than 5 percent of the company. In 2018, when he oversaw a corporate management shake-up, he controlled 25 percent of the company.
Last week, Caesars CEO Tom Reeg welcomed Lynn and Papapostolou to the board, saying they bring “diverse and relevant experience” to the panel that includes retired Caesars executive and former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones Blackhurst and former Republican Party official Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., who was the founding CEO of the American Gaming Association.
In the same statement, Icahn backed Caesars and the company’s senior management. He also hinted at some activism, saying he would be involved with “exploring strategic alternatives for the company’s underappreciated digital business,” which includes sports betting and online gaming.
Jefferies Financial gaming analyst David Katz wrote in a March 18 research note that Icahn's involvement in the company seemed “amicable” and should be a positive given his record of finding efficiency within a business and creating overall value.
What I'm reading
💰 Follow the Money: Gaming returns to top of Nevada legislator donors — Eric Neugeboren, The Nevada Independent
The industry donated more than $2 million to state lawmakers during the 2024 election cycle, the most since 2016.
⚾ Amid A’s hype, Sacramento still has to keep another baseball team happy — John Shea, San Francisco Standard
157 games will be played in shared Sutter Health Park during many 100-degree days. How long will the grass stay green? “Mother Nature was not available for comment.”
👎 Campaign contributions are part of the picture as Hawaii debates gambling proposals
— Jill Dorson, iGamingBusiness
Boyd Gaming, which opposes two digital betting bills but supports a gambling study proposal, has been one of the larger contributors.
News, notes and quotes
🎰 Titus brings back a bill to increase the slot jackpot threshold
Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) is reupping a long-standing effort to increase the slot reporting threshold from $1,200 to $5,000. In a bill introduced with Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), who co-chairs the bipartisan Congressional Gaming Caucus, Titus said in a statement that the legislation would update a Reagan-era gaming regulation “with a commonsense fix that affects the growth of legal gaming in local and Tribal communities across the country.” Under current law, slot machines are shut down when a jackpot hits $1,200 — a more common occurrence now than in the 1970s when the threshold was introduced. In 2023, the IRS Advisory Council recommended the agency increase the threshold to $5,000 and index it to inflation.
♠️ IGT gains additional online table games through a deal with Galaxy
Galaxy Gaming, a Las Vegas-based table game provider, signed a five-year licensing deal that allows International Game Technology (IGT) to use digital versions of the company’s games. According to a statement, Galaxy will provide IGT’s online platform with versions of blackjack, poker and other card games that include enhanced bonus elements, such as “21+3,” “Lucky Ladies” and “Caribbean Stud Poker.” The games will be placed on legal online casinos and non-wagering social platforms.