Caesars Entertainment is being sold to Fertitta, an entertainment company that owns the Houston Rockets, the Golden Nugget casino chain, and dozens of restaurants around the world.
Fertitta Entertainments is acquiring the chain of casinos for $5.7 billion and will take on about $12 billion in debt, bringing the total value of the deal to around $17.6 billion.
According to Forbes, Fertitta Entertainment’s net worth is around $11 billion. It owns more than 600 properties in 15 countries, and its restaurant side of the company, Landry’s, operates more than 60 restaurants under the brands New York’s Strip House, Mastro’s, Catch, Morton’s, McCormick & Schmick’s and Chart House, among others.
Fertitta Entertainment also has minority stakes in DraftKings and Wynn Resorts, as well as luxury hotels and the Golden Nugget casino chain. If the sale goes through, this will give Fertitta Entertainment more than 50 casinos by adding the Caesars, Harrah’s, Horsheshoe, Paris, and Eldorado brands.
Caesars Entertainment has until July 11 to receive better competing bids.
The World Series of Poker, which takes places at Caesar properties around the country, is not part of the deal. The brand was sold to online poker giant GGPoker’s parent company, NSUS Group for $500 million in 2024.
As part of the deal, which will most likely transfer if this sale goes through, the WSOP will continue to take place at Caesar’s casinos until at least 2044.
Tilman Fertitta, the Fertitta in Fertitta Entertainment, is estimated to be worth $11 billion. He is the current ambassador to Italy and San Marino, and is a major donator to the MAGA movement and Donald Trump.
He donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund and co-hosted a black-tie reception for Trump days after he was sworn into his second term. The other co-hosts were fellow billionaires Miriam Adelson, who owns the Venetian casino, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and Chicago Cubs owner Todd Ricketts.
Because of the size of the deal, it would normally come under scrutiny by Federal regulators, but that’s in doubt since this administration has repeatedly turned a blind-eye toward corporations and individuals who have simply given Trump and his family money.
According to NBC News, Shares of Caesars Entertainment Inc., which are up 15% since merger rumors emerged in March, rose almost 2% before the opening bell Thursday.
Caesars Entertainment was last purchased by El Dorado Resorts in 2019 for $17.3 billion in cash and stock.
