Tilman Fertitta, the Billion Dollar Buyer, is interviewed by an area news reporter before speaking at the University of Mississippi.
By LaReeca Rucker
As the CEO of Landry’s Inc., Tilman Fertitta may understand the art of the deal better than our new president. Fertitta bought one of Trump’s former properties, the Trump Marina in New Jersey, and transformed it from a business losing $15 million a year into the Golden Nugget Atlantic City hotel, casino and marina that now earns $30 million before interest, tax and other expenses.
Perhaps you’ve heard of some of his other businesses. As a group, Landry’s Inc. owns and operates more than 500 properties, including Landry's Seafood, Chart House, Saltgrass Steak House, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Morton's The Steakhouse, Rainforest Cafe and five Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino locations.
Fertitta owns more than 500 restaurants, six casinos, 12 hotels, four aquariums and two amusement parks. He has more than 60,000 employees and a net worth of $2.9 billion. That’s why he’s the star of the CNBC show Billion Dollar Buyer.
He was a recent featured speaker at the University of Mississippi. Two of his sons and a niece graduated from UM. One son, Michael Fertitta, graduated from the Meek School of Journalism and New Media’s integrated marketing communications program and now works in Landry’s development department.
“Oxford is one of the great places in America,” he said, addressing the crowd. “Even growing up, and watching football at an early age, and seeing Archie Manning, the Ole Miss Rebels, it’s amazing how far and great this school has come.”
Career
Fresh out of school, the Galveston, Texas, native got his start in 1981 selling Shaklee Vitamins for one of the first organic product companies, and received a free Cadillac as a sales reward. The job helped Fertitta improve his public speaking skills, and he received other awards, including a trip to Europe.
Fertitta saw another opportunity in arcade videogames, such as Asteroids and PAC-MAN. He purchased games from a Houston distributor and put them in local stores.
“All of a sudden, I looked up, and gosh, I had 500-600 videogames around Texas,” he said. “I had all these bags of quarters, and I’m 22 or 23 years old, and I’m making hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, which was huge.”
One opportunity led to another. Fertitta built his first hotel at age 26, then used that money to get into the development business. In 1988 and 1990, he opened restaurants in San Antonio, Galveston, Austin, Dallas and Corpus Christie. He also bought his first jet that year, something he’d promised himself he’d do before his 35th birthday.
“Because of the crazy world we live in, and it’s all about growth, I wake up in August of 1993, and I’m worth $100 million on paper,” he said. “Now, if it sounds that easy, it isn’t. But it isn’t that difficult either. You just have to have a vision and make sure it happens.”
Over the next few years, Fertitta opened businesses around the country and was on every financial hot list. In 1997, he opened 50 restaurants in one year. During an economic downturn in 2000, Fertitta took action.
“What do I do when the world gets screwed up in 2000, restaurants and everything are struggling,” he said. “I’m an opportunist. I go out and buy Rainforest (Café), fixed it up.”
He later purchased Chart House, a strong Texas restaurant brand before venturing into the casino business, an industry more profitable than restaurants. During the crash of 2008-2009, he acquired more businesses.
“You make your money when times are bad, not when times are good,” he said. “And I preach this to people all the time. When times are really good, we forget they’re going to be bad again. And when times are really bad, we forget they’re ever going to be good again. But when things are bad, you buy, buy, buy …”
Coming out of the recession in 2010, Fertitta purchased many companies, including Oceanaire, Claim Jumper, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant and the Trump Marina. “It was a typical Trump property, and didn’t operate that well,” he said. “And trust me, I voted for Trump, OK.”
Fertitta, who praised Trump’s ability to make “executive decisions,” said he got angry when 5,000 Donald Trump bobbleheads disappeared from the Trump Marina.
“When I bought the Trump Marina, there were 5,000 Donald Trump bobbleheads down there in storage,” he said. “And I told my general manager, don’t let anything happen to these. They could really be some fun one day. I had this vision.
“So Trump gets elected president in November, and I said, ‘Where are all those bobbleheads? We could really have some fun with this.’”
Unfortunately, the manager had gotten rid of them.
“You talking about mad?” Fertitta said. “You know how much fun we could have had with 5,000 Trump bobbleheads to bring people in and let your best players shoot at the bobbleheads or do whatever?”
This year, Fertitta plans to open 20 restaurants, build a new tower at his Lake Charles Golden Nugget property, and add 350 hotel rooms there. He owns a new hotel called The Post Oak in Houston. And he purchased BR Guest Hospitality restaurant group in New York City that includes Atlantic Grill, Bill’s Bar & Burger, Blue Fin, Blue Water Grill and other restaurants.
Tilman Fertitta, the Billion Dollar Buyer, talks about his career at the University of Mississippi.
Making a Difference
“My companies will do $3.6 billion in revenue this year,” said Fertitta, who is the chairman of the University of Houston’s Board of Regents. He is also trying to make a difference in his community as chairman of the Houston Police Foundation and as the Houston Children’s Charity chairman of the board.
Fertitta told his audience he also made a difference in the lives of two former presidents who were “arch enemies.”
“I was very good friends with Bill Clinton,” he said. “I met him at one of my restaurants back in the 1990s. I’m a big Bush supporter, very close to the Bushes. But Bush had gotten beat by Clinton in 1992.
“When #43 was president, there was a gigantic tsunami in Indonesia, so Bush #41 in Houston calls me and says, ‘Hey Tilman. My son asked me and Bill Clinton to raise all this money for the tsunami, and I’m going to go up and shoot this commercial, but I really don’t know him, and I know you are pretty close to him, because he was in your home a couple of times.’”
Fertitta said he met with George W. Bush, and learned that everything Bush knew about Clinton was horrible. So Fertitta offered Bush a different perspective about Clinton.
“We go up there, we have lunch, they shoot this commercial," he said. "Bill sends a bunch of stuff to the plane for us. And on the way back, (Bush) said: ‘I truly enjoyed being around Bill Clinton.’
“Now, here’s a guy who beat him for the presidency. Think about it. He said, ‘I truly enjoyed him. That was a lot of fun. He’s going to come to town next week, and we’re going to go to dinner.’
“They went and they took one of the big 747s, and they flew to Indonesia. I saw him right after that, and he said, ‘I just truly like this man.’ And y’all know today what big friends they are. I feel like I made a difference there. I helped those two guys come together.’”
The Sport of Business
Fertitta views business as sport. “When you get on the Forbes 400 … it’s no different than being in the Top 20 in football, or basketball, or baseball,” he said, adding that one of his biggest business accomplishments is having 25 vice presidents who have been with him more than 20 years, some who started as busboys and waiters.
Fertitta is fond of Oxford, Mississippi, and has financially invested in some Oxford square buildings. “It’s really one of the great university towns in America,” he said.
He owns a casino and restaurant on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and believes deregulation would help business development there following the wrath of Hurricane Katrina.
“We’re building a Saltgrass Steak House right across the street from the Golden Nugget, and it’s costing us like an extra $800,000 to build the way you have to build it up,” he said.
Fertitta believes residents there should forget about the potential for future storm damage and move forward. “No matter what we do, when we have a great storm, (it's) going to destroy stuff again,” he said. “That’s just the way it is. You have no development right now on that beautiful Gulf Coast because it’s so expensive to build right now.”
Feritta said he comes from a humble Texas background and realizes not everyone who watches his show is going to become a millionaire or billionaire, but he said success isn’t always measured by money.
“There’s a lot of people out there smarter than me,” he said. “But the name of the game is to be really good at what you do. The guy who can take an engine apart and put it back together, or the artist who can draw something perfect, or the musician who can pick up an instrument and play anything, those are some talented people. And they are just as talented as me, if not more. But they don’t get paid as much.
“So you’re not just measured in success by money, but you’re measured by whether or not you are good at what you do.”