Phil Ruffin

Businessman

Birthday March 14, 1936

Birth Sign Pisces

Birthplace Potter County, Texas, U.S.

Age 88 years old

Nationality United States

#42583 Most Popular

1935

Phillip Gene Ruffin (born March 14, 1935) is an American businessman.

He owns the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino and Circus Circus Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, in addition to a number of other enterprises including hotels, casinos, greyhound racing tracks, oil production, convenience stores, real estate, and the world's largest manufacturer of hand trucks.

He is also a business partner of former United States President Donald Trump, with whom he co-owns the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas.

1953

In 1953, he graduated from Wichita North High School where he was a wrestling champion.

"After he won the state championship," states one profile, "his father, who never attended a match, asked him if he was the one they were talking about in the newspaper."

He attended Washburn University in Topeka for three years and Wichita State University but never got his degree.

1972

In 1972, Ruffin pioneered self-serve gasoline in Kansas, creating a chain of 60 convenience stores in the Midwest.

1987

In 1987, he then used cash from the convenience stores to build his first hotel, a Marriott in Wichita.

His businesses also included oil distribution and one of the country's largest manufacturers of hand trucks.

1994

In 1994, Ruffin leased his convenience stores to Total, using the money to purchase more hotels.

1995

Then, in 1995, Ruffin acquired the Crystal Palace casino resort in Nassau in the Bahamas.

Mortgaging the casino, Ruffin then purchased the New Frontier Hotel and Casino.

Ruffin is best known for his purchase of the New Frontier Hotel and Casino, one of the Las Vegas Strip's venerable properties.

When he bought the resort from Margaret Elardi and her family, it had been mired in a longtime strike, the longest running in American history, with employees represented by the Culinary Workers Union, one of the most powerful labor organizations in Las Vegas.

1998

Ruffin settled the strike very soon after his purchase in 1998.

Soon after, the casino-hotel became known as the New Frontier.

2005

In 2005, Ruffin announced plans to demolish the New Frontier and replace it in 2005 with a new resort to be called The Montreaux, but the development never got off the ground.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower, built immediately adjacent to the Fashion Show Mall, broke ground in July 2005.

2007

Ruffin sold the New Frontier to El Ad Properties in 2007.

The $1.2 billion sale price for the 36 acre property was the largest per-acre price in The Strip's history.

2008

In calendar year 2008, Treasure Island reported $376M in revenue (down from $431M in 2007) and $101M in EBITDA.

Ruffin expressed his lack of concern about buying a casino in a down market, because the TI will have very little debt.

The tower opened in March 2008, and plans for an identical second tower were announced.

Ruffin has a half-interest in the development, having contributed the land for his part of the deal.

2009

MGM Mirage sold Treasure Island Hotel and Casino (TI) to Ruffin in March 2009.

The negotiated price was $600 million in cash and $175 million in secured notes.

Ruffin estimates that to build a casino like Treasure Island from the ground up would cost $2.7 billion.

Ruffin took complete ownership of the hotel and casino resort in the early morning of March 20, 2009.

2018

In February 2018 he said he had turned down a "huge" offer for TI from a Chinese firm, explaining that Strip assets are "irreplaceable."

"There isn't any price they could throw at me that would interest me," he said.

"Money is not that valuable. Assets are valuable, especially when they are irreplaceable."

Ruffin's joint venture with his friend Donald Trump involved a portion of the New Frontier land.

2019

On the Forbes 2019 list of the world's billionaires, he was ranked No. 838 with a net worth of US$3.1 billion.

Ruffin was born in Potter County near Amarillo, Texas, the son of Blanche (née Cohlmia) and Roy J. Ruffin.

He is of Lebanese descent (his family's surname was originally "Rufan").

He was raised in Wichita, Kansas where his father had a grocery store.

He has four siblings: Elaine Ruffin Nemer, Roy Ruffin Jr., Pat Ruffin, and Pam Ruffin.

MGM Resorts International sold Circus Circus Las Vegas to Ruffin in December 2019 for $825 million.

The purchase includes the adjacent Slots-A-Fun Casino, the Adventuredome amusement park, and adjacent open space.

Ruffin plans to add to the property a swimming pool complex with a wave machine, sand beaches and a lazy river ride.