Billionaire casino owner resigning to join Trump administration

David Danzis, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Mar 25, 2025

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Tilman Fertitta, the billionaire businessman whose hospitality and entertainment empire includes several casino hotels in Nevada, is giving up the reins of his company to take a role in the Trump administration.

Fertitta plans to resign from his role as chief executive officer of Fertitta Entertainment LLC if his nomination for U.S. ambassador to Italy and San Marino is confirmed. In a March 16 letter to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics and posted by the Houston Chronicle, Fertitta said he was stepping down to “avoid any actual or apparent conflict of interest.”

Fertitta Entertainment is a holding company for Landry’s Inc., the Houston-based conglomerate which operates, among other entities, the NBA’s Houston Rockets and three Golden Nugget casino hotels in Nevada, located in downtown Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Laughlin.

Fertitta is also the largest shareholder of Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts Ltd., according to financial records. In February, he increased his ownership to 10.9%.

He is also the cousin of Lorenzo Fertitta and Frank Fertitta III, chairman of Las Vegas-based Red Rock Resorts Inc. and chief executive officer of Station Casinos.

President Donald Trump announced Fertitta as his nominee for ambassador in December.

Fertitta, a former television reality personality who appeared on “Billion Dollar Buyer,” has no political or diplomatic experience but has long been a campaign donor to both major parties. In 2020, Fertitta donated $140,000 to Trump’s unsuccessful reelection campaign and contributed $5,600 to former President Joe Biden. In 2024, Fertitta hosted a fundraising event for Trump at his Post Oak Hotel in Houston.

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