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. On the Forbes 2019 list of the world's billionaires, he was ranked No. 838 with a net worth of US $3.1 billion.
Early life and education
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. 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.
Career
In 1972, Ruffin pioneered self-serve gasoline in Kansas, creating a chain of 60 convenience stores in the Midwest. 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.
In 1994, Ruffin leased his convenience stores to Total, using the money to purchase more hotels. 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.
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. Ruffin settled the strike very soon after his purchase in 1998. Soon after, the casino-hotel became known as the New Frontier. 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. Ruffin sold the New Frontier to El Ad Properties in 2007. The $1.2 billion sale price for the property was the largest per-acre price in The Strip's history.
Treasure Island
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. 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. Ruffin took complete ownership of the hotel and casino resort in the early morning of March 20, 2009. 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."
Trump International Tower
Ruffin's joint venture with his friend Donald Trump involved a portion of the New Frontier land. The Trump International Hotel and Tower, built immediately adjacent to the Fashion Show Mall, broke ground in July 2005. 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.
Circus Circus
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.