Billionaire Phil Ruffin has revealed one of the worst-kept secrets in Vegas: he intends to sell Circus Circus, one of the few budget hotels on the famed Las Vegas Strip.
Prized Real Estate
Premium real estate is hard to find in Las Vegas, Nevada, but Phil Ruffin has a plot of land on the north end of the Strip that can be had for those who want it badly enough. The 89-year-old casino magnate purchased Circus Circus in 2019 for $825 million and now intends to flip it for much more.
“It’s worth $5 billion,” Ruffin told Forbes. “It’s the best piece of land on the West Coast. It’s got the highway; it’s got the Sahara. It’s got 2,000 feet on the Strip, and it’s the last Strip property. And 102 acres is just a massive amount of land. You can almost build a city on it.”
A Profitable Property
Although Ruffin’s hotel and casino is considered to be low rent by the lofty standards of its sophisticated neighbors, business is good because there is no mortgage to pay. While others drown in a sea of debt, Circus Circus generates $90 million per year before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
Although it is a blue-collar hotel in a white-collar neighborhood, it allows a working-class family to stay on the Strip without breaking the bank.
“We do well,” Ruffin stated. “We sell two-dollar beer, two-dollar hot dogs, two-dollar popcorn. People love it. A guy can eat and drink for six bucks.”
The Future of Circus Circus
Ruffin spent $30 million on refurbishments three years after he purchased Circus Circus, but aside from that, it’s been business as usual. Whatever investment group or private party purchases the property could either invest in heavy upgrades or tear it down and start from scratch.
But whatever the figure, it won’t come cheap, and although it is uncertain if Ruffin will get his $5 billion asking price, it is clear he has made another wise investment that will likely see him at least triple his money.
What’s Next?
Phil Ruffin is not new to the real estate game in Las Vegas. In 1998, he purchased the Frontier for $165 million in the middle of a labor strike but then sold it nine years later for $1.2 billion. He is purported to be eyeing properties to buy after he unloads Circus Circus, which is a page ripped right out of his previous playbook.
“Why do you think I bought Circus Circus? For the 102 acres,” he says. “That’s the land play. Remember what I did at the Frontier, how the value of the land went crazy—here it’s going crazier.”
Soo Kim, the chairman of Bally’s Corporation and the managing partner of hedge fund Standard General, is an unabashed fan of Ruffin’s.
“He is a smart guy, and his purchase of Treasure Island was genius,” says Kim, who is in the process of taking Bally’s private in a $4.6 billion deal. “He is part of the fabric of Las Vegas gaming.”
Ruffin was a high school state wrestling champion from Wichita, Kansas, and came from modest beginnings. He understands hard work, the value of a dollar, and how to translate that into a fortune. Regardless of what comes next, he’s ready for it.
“I have more money than I can handle. I started out with zero—nothing,” he says. “I got down, one time, to 28 cents.”
How times have changed.
