Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta has acquired a 6.1% stake in Wynn Resorts, helping send shares in the struggling hotel and casino company soaring 10% as of midday, though the stock still remains down north of 20% for the year.
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Fertitta picked up 6.9 million shares in Wynn, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing reported by Bloomberg, making him the company’s second-largest investor after co-founder Elaine Wynn.
The cash infusion into Wynn, which operates casinos on the Strip and in Macau, comes on the heels of Fertitta’s first individual foray onto the Las Vegas Strip in early October.
Fertitta unveiled plans for a 43-story hotel and casino resort rumored to come with a $1B-plus price tag. His vision for a $270M 6.2-acre site at Las Vegas Boulevard and Harmon Avenue near MGM Resorts’ CityCenter was given the green light by the Clark County Commission on Oct. 19, and Fertitta pulled demolition permits the same day, casino.org reported.
Fertitta’s investment in Wynn also came Oct. 19, per the SEC filing, which the Las Vegas Review Journal noted gives him “an immediate foothold in the Strip’s casino industry.”
The owner of five Golden Nugget casinos in Nevada, New Jersey, Mississippi and Louisiana, Fertitta is no newcomer to the world of gaming resorts. But recent moves suggest an aggressive play to become a force on the Strip.
His other business interests include the NBA’s Houston Rockets and restaurant giant Landry’s Inc., which owns more than 600 restaurants across the country, per Fertitta’s website.
Bloomberg noted Fertitta’s investment comes at a welcome time for Wynn, which has been socked by coronavirus restrictions in China that stymied traffic at its profitable Macau casinos.
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