Ralph Engelstad

Ralph Louis Engelstad (January 28, 1930 – November 26, 2002) was an American businessman who owned the Imperial Palace casino-hotels in Las Vegas and in Biloxi, Mississippi.

He also owned the Kona Kai motel in Las Vegas, which later became the Klondike Hotel and Casino.

He was also the donor for the construction of the $104 million Ralph Engelstad Arena for his alma mater, the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and another arena bearing his name in Thief River Falls, Minnesota.

Engelstad was also a co-developer of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Engelstad was one of the very few independent casino-hotel owners in Las Vegas.

Engelstad was born on January 28, 1930, in Thief River Falls, Minnesota.

He was one of five children born to Christian and Madeline (Thill) Engelstad.

His grandfather, Peder was a Norwegian immigrant from Vang, Hedmark.

During high school, Engelstad worked a summer job at AGSCO farm supply company, where his father was a salesman.

It was usually long and hard work, taking place on farms and requiring the workers to assemble steel buildings from morning to night.

In the 1950s, Engelstad founded his own construction company: Engelstad Construction.

Engelstad became a millionaire at the age of twenty-nine, fulfilling his hope to become a millionaire by the age of thirty.

In 1954, he graduated from the University of North Dakota (UND) with a degree in Business.

While at UND, Engelstad also played goalie for the school hockey team and even received a tryout with the Chicago Blackhawks.

After graduation, he went on to marry Betty Stocker of East Grand Forks.

The two went on to have a daughter, Kris.

In 1959, he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where his construction company had secured government contracts to build FHA homes.

In 1965, he purchased the Thunderbird Field airport and later acquired vacant land nearby.

In 1967, he sold 145 acres, including the airport, to billionaire Howard Hughes for $2 million.

Engelstad used the money to purchase the Kona Kai motel on the Las Vegas Strip.

In 1971, he purchased the Flamingo Capri Motel, also on the Las Vegas Strip.

He added a casino in 1972, and later renamed the property to the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino in 1979.

He sold the motel in 1975 for $1.2 million, and it would later become the Klondike Hotel and Casino.

On April 20 in 1986 and 1988, he hosted parties to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday at his casino in Las Vegas that featured bartenders in T-shirts reading "Adolf Hitler — European tour 1939-45".

By 1989, he was worth an estimated $300 million.

Because of this, in 1989, the Nevada Gaming Commission fined Engelstad $1.5 million "for actions that damaged the reputation and image of Nevada's gaming industry."

Engelstad apologized publicly for the parties, saying they were "stupid, insensitive and held in bad taste", but the row was not to be his last controversial move.

In 1996, Engelstad joined with Bill Bennett (owner of the Sahara Hotel and Casino) to build the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which they later sold to Speedway Motorsports in 1998.

In 1997, he opened a second Imperial Palace resort in Biloxi, Mississippi.

The Engelstad Foundation was created in 2002 by Ralph and Betty Engelstad.

Since its inception, the foundation has provided more than $300 million in grants to organizations focused on animal compassion, at-risk individuals, education, historical preservation, medical research and support, people with disabilities and veterans.

Notable donations to organizations span Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, North Dakota, and Utah.

In 2002, Engelstad was inducted into the North Dakota Entrepreneur Hall of Fame for his contributions to the construction, casino and entertainment industries.

Engelstad was a controversial figure.

He raised accusations of being sympathetic to Nazism owing to his collection of Nazi memorabilia stored in a private room, which he referred to as his "war room", within his Imperial Palace hotel-casino.

After discovery of the memorabilia, Engelstad agreed to sell it rather than put it on display.

In an apology letter to the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas, Engelstad said "I now feel I have done what I can and apologized for what I cannot do".

In addition to the memorabilia he stored on display in his "war room", a printing plate was found within his hotel that was used to make bumper stickers that read "Hitler Was Right".

As of 2019, the Engelstad Foundation is run by trustees Betty Engelstad, Kris Engelstad McGarry and Jeffrey M. Cooper.

Ralph Engelstad was honored with multiple awards throughout his life, including "National Employer of the Year" from the President's Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities; "Employer of the Year" from the Southwest Business, Industry and Rehabilitation Association; and "Humanitarian of the Year Award" from the International Gaming & Business Exposition.