The Fertitta name is ubiquitous in Southern Nevada considering the ownership role the Fertitta family has with Station Casinos and UFC.
Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta’s third cousin — Fertitta Entertainment owner and CEO Tilman Joseph Fertitta — doesn’t quite have the same high profile here, despite his ownership role with downtown’s Golden Nugget, Golden Nugget Laughlin and the Landry’s restaurant chain, his big investment profile with Wynn Resorts Ltd. and his forays into exploring the development of a Strip casino.
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Tilman Fertitta may be more recognizable on the big national stage, especially in Houston, as not only a casino owner in multiple states, and a restaurateur, but as a sports franchise owner and investor, a theme-park operator, a reality TV star, a best-selling author and, oh yes, the U.S. ambassador to Italy and San Marino.
Became ambassador in ‘25
The latter title was the most recent addition to the Fertitta resume when the U.S. Senate affirmed the nomination from President Donald Trump on April 29, 2025. He officially began his ambassadorial duties on May 6, 2025, when he presented his credentials to Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
But Fertitta had a long run-up of business success over the years and Forbes ranks him among the 100 wealthiest Americans with a net worth estimated at $11.3 billion.
Fertitta was born in Galveston, Texas, June 25, 1957, and grew up in Houston. At an early age, he peeled shrimp at his father’s Galveston seafood restaurant. He attended Texas Tech University and the University of Houston, studying business administration and hospitality management but never graduated.
Fertitta became the sole owner of Fertitta Entertainment, which owns Landry’s and eight casinos under the Golden Nugget brand with properties in Colorado, Louisiana, New Jersey, Illinois and Mississippi in addition to Nevada.
Through his restaurant and hospitality company, Fertitta owns more than 600 properties in 36 states and over 15 countries. His restaurants include a signature collection of more than 60 award-winning restaurant concepts such as Catch, Mastro’s, Morton’s The Steakhouse, Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, Chart House and two of New York’s most famous — Keen’s Steakhouse and The Corner Store. He also owns more than a dozen popular casual dining brands such as Rainforest Café and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. His hotel division includes two Forbes Five-Star properties, the Montage Laguna Beach Resort Hotel and The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston.
In addition to restaurants, hotels, and casinos, Landry’s also owns amusement parks, aquariums and the Kemah Boardwalk. Landry’s Inc. first acquired the Kemah Boardwalk in 1999. After acquiring the boardwalk, Fertitta added a few Landry’s restaurants and a few rides. In 2007, he added the Boardwalk Bullet which is a high-speed wooden roller coaster. He also added the Boardwalk FantaSea, a luxury yacht cruise service where guests ride along Galveston Bay.
Fertitta also is a huge sports fan and his enterprise owns the Houston Rockets National Basketball Association team, purchased in 2017. That ownership role prevents his casinos from taking sports bets on Rockets games.
Sports franchises
He’s also had interest in developing franchises for all the other major sports leagues.
Fertitta was one of the original investors to develop the Houston Texans National Football League team, but had to part ways with the franchise in 2008 because NFL rules at the time prohibited any connection with gambling.
With the Houston Astros Major League Baseball team, Fertitta in 2003 bought the naming rights to the Crawford Boxes, a section of the left field seats at what is now known as Daikin Park. When fans sitting in the “Landry’s Crawford Boxes” catch a home-run ball, they’re rewarded with a gift certificate to one of Landry’s restaurants.
Fertitta also is a big National Hockey League fan and in 2018 was in the running to bring the defunct Arizona Coyotes franchise to Houston. Salt Lake City ultimately won the franchise and the team became the Utah Mammoth, a team the Vegas Golden Knights eliminated in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs. But Fertitta has stayed persistent and is expected to get consideration for an NHL expansion team some day.
Fertitta has had other sports ambitions, trying to revive the Women’s National Basketball Association’s Comets franchise and return it to Houston. He also showed interest a year ago in buying Sheffield Wednesday, an English Football League Championship club from controversial owner Dejphon Chansiri.
‘Shut Up and Listen!’
Fertitta starred in CNBC’s reality TV show “Billion Dollar Buyer” and also authored a New York Times best-selling book, “Shut Up and Listen!”
In an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal in 2019, Fertitta described the book as an examination of how to become a successful businessman.
“It’s an easy read,” he said at the time. “People like it. They like all the Tilmanisms, the 95:5 rule, there are no spare customers, take no out of your damn vocabulary, know your numbers, know what you know, know what you don’t know, and it’s an easy, fun book that people like, regardless if you’re a CEO or a young entrepreneur or a newspaper writer. It’s something that we can all learn from, and it teaches you how to separate yourself from everybody else.”
Prior to taking on the role of ambassador, Fertitta served as chairman of the Board of Regents of the University of Houston System for more than 11 years. In recognition of his contributions, the Fertitta Center, a sports arena, and the Tilman J. Fertitta Medical School were named in his honor. He also serves as the chairman of the Houston Police Foundation and supported the creation of the Houston Police Department’s state-of-the-art Tactical Training Center, named in honor of his family, which provides advanced, life-saving training for law enforcement.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.
