The world of Casinos is a thrilling, high-stakes sector that generates billions of dollars in revenue annually. A gambling facility could be anything: from a hotel to a cruise ship, a mall, a retail shop, or even a restaurant.
The world’s wealthiest casino owners, who have made their fortunes off the excitement of gambling and entertainment, are behind some of the world’s most luxurious casinos. From Las Vegas to Macau to websites like kasino verde, these multi millionaire moguls are huge influencers in the gambling sector.
| Casino Owner | Net Worth |
| Elaine Wynn | $2.1 billion. |
| Fertitta Brothers | $2.8 billion. |
| Phil Ruffin | $3.3 billion |
| Tilman Fertitta | $8.8 billion |
| Sheldon Adelson estate | $29.8 billion |
Wondering how they managed to earn a fortune? Read on to find out more about these owners of one of the most prestigious gambling establishments.
1. Elaine Wynn
All hail the ‘Queen of Las Vegas,’ aka ‘Sin City’. At no 5, Elaine is the only woman to be among the top wealthiest casino owners in the world and one of the most powerful.
Elaine and her husband Steve Wynn established Mirage Resorts in 1973. It, eventually, birthed some of the most iconic casinos like Treasure Island, The Mirage, and Bellagio in Las Vegas. After so much success with the resort, the couple sold it to Kirk Kerkorian in 2000 for $6.4 billion. The Wynns soon launched their new venture, the Flagship hotel and casino Wynn Las Vegas in April 2005, reportedly worth $2.7 billion in construction.
The Wynns separated in 2010, dividing their 38% ownership in the Wynn Resorts. Following Steve’s resignation as CEO in 2018 and the sale of the Majority of his shares, Elaine became the second-largest shareholder of Wynn Resorts and is currently worth $2.1 billion. The Wynn Resorts runs a total of six hotel-casinos, one in Boston, two in Las Vegas, and three in Macau.
2. The Fertitta Brothers
Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III, known as the Fertitta Brothers were born and raised in the casino world. Besides, they were heirs of their father’s gambling wealth and legacy. Frank Fertitta Jr. had worked across several gambling houses in Sin City before launching the Station Casinos in 1976.
After working alongside their father at Station Casinos, Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta steered the company to its pilot IPO after their father’s retirement in 1993. The brothers further raised $294 million to become primary shareholders and co-founders of the expanded Stations Casions Inc. As an early investment, the brothers bought the UFC for $2 million in 2001. This would turn out to be a life-changing purchase 15 years later when the brothers sold their shares for a whopping sum of $4 billion.
Amidst managing several casinos for other owners, Stations Inc. operates multiple hotel casinos like the notable Red Rock in Las Vegas and Sunset Station in Henderson, Nevada. Both brothers are worth $2.8 billion.
3. Phil Ruffin
He might be a little late to the party, but the saying is – not how far but how well. Phil’s ownership of a series of convenience stores helped him build his wealth. He later ventured into the hospitality industry and at 60 years old, finally settled into the casino world in 1995.
Ruffin started his gambling business after purchasing the Crystal Palace Resort in the Bahamas. Fast forward to three years later, he took over The Frontier Hotel and Casino, a struggling operator with its workers on strike. Ruffin reconstructed it for $20 million making it his first US. based casino.
Ruffin, now 87 and worth 3.3 billion, owns two prominent casinos, Treasure Island and Circus Circus in Las Vegas. He is known to still be fully committed to his gaming houses, telling Forbes he has no plans to retire soon and aims to ‘die at his desk.’
4. Tilman Fertitta
Cousin to the Fertitta brothers, Tilman first began to build his wealth in the real estate sector. After a while, he invested in and took over, Landry, a Texas-based seafood restaurant and entertainment company in 1988. After gaining sole ownership, he expanded the business by purchasing other notable restaurant chains like Joe’s Crab Shack, Rainforest Cafe, Bubba Gump Shrimp and Co., and Saltgrass Steak House.
In 2005, Fertitta decided to move into the casino business asides from his growing restaurant empire. He bought the Golden Nugget Hotel, one of the oldest gambling houses in Sin City, a casino in Laughlin and Nevada for $295 million.
Tilman Fertitta now owns three more Golden Nugget casinos, one of which replaced Trumo Marina in Atlantic City. In October 2017, the NBA approved his 2.2 billion purchase of the Houston Rockets. He recently published a book titled “Shut up and Listen”! delineating his ordeals in the entertainment and dining industry. He is currently worth 8.8 billion dollars.
5. Sheldon Adelson
Sheldon Adelson was the CEO and Chairman of Las Vegas Sands, unarguably one of the biggest casino companies in the world currently. He was born to a poor family of immigrants from Lithuania and Wales.
His wealth collection started from his launch of Comdex, a Las Vegas computer trade showcase in 1979, but casino operations would eventually become his biggest source of wealth. Sheldon didn’t launch into the gambling world until he turned 55 when he purchased the Sands Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas for $128 million alongside his partners. He further expanded the Casino empire to Macau, Singapore, and China, owning half of its $14 billion profit in sales.
The expansion grew Sheldon’s fortune to an estimated $1 million per hour for two years straight and earned him Forbes’ top rank of the Annual Biggest Winners list of 2013. Adelson still ranks highest on the list of the world’s wealthiest casino owners and was worth $29.8 billion months before his death in January 2021.
