Frank Fertitta Jr.

August 21, 2009 · 4:52 p.m.

Station Casinos reaches deal with key lenders, hopes to emerge from bankruptcy: Agreement would keep company and its 18 casino properties together; Thursday, February 25, 2010; By Steve Green; Station Casinos today announced it has reached an agreement with key lenders that the company hopes will clear the way for it to receive approval to emerge from bankruptcy this summer.

Fertittas seek to block creditors’ lawsuit in Station bankruptcy case: Unsecured creditors want to pursue claims in leveraged buyout of Station Casinos; Tuesday, January 12, 2010; By Steve Green; Attorneys for two members of Las Vegas’ Fertitta family moved Tuesday to block a threatened creditors’ lawsuit in the Station Casinos Inc. bankruptcy case.

Victoria Fertitta, in glasses, leads her family and the casket at the funeral for her husband and Station Casinos founder Frank Fertitta Jr. Saturday at the Shrine of the Most Holy Redeemer.

Fertitta remembered for 'kindness, generosity, integrity' at funeral: About 2,000 people attend Catholic Mass for Station Casinos founder; Saturday, August 29, 2009; By Kyle B. Hansen; Station Casinos founder Frank Fertitta Jr. was remembered at a funeral Saturday as a loving man who had a great deal of faith. The funeral attracted a large gathering of Las Vegans and notables from the arenas of business, sports and government.

Funeral arrangements set for Frank Fertitta Jr.: Monday, August 24, 2009; By Mary Manning; Funeral services for Station Casinos Inc. founder and community philanthropist Frank Fertitta Jr. have been scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Fertitta died Friday in a Los Angeles hospital.

Station Casinos founder left his mark as philanthropist: FRANK FERTITTA JR. | 1938-2009:; Saturday, August 22, 2009; By Jeff German; The publicity-shy Frank Fertitta Jr., founder of Station Casinos, will be remembered for both his vision and his philanthropy as a businessman, turning a small casino just off the Strip into a casino empire that catered to locals while most of his counterparts focused on tourists, and then pouring much of his profit into schools, charities and medical research. Fertitta died early Friday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he was being treated for a long-standing heart condition. He was 70.

On July 9, 1990, executives from Palace Station drove a spike into a railroad tie, symbolizing the beginning of construction on their new 587-room, 22-story tower. From left are Frank Fertitta Jr. (chairman of the board), Glen Christensen (vice president/CFO), Joe Canfora (vice president/general manager), Jim Faso (senior vice president), Lorenzo Fertitta (vice president), Frank Fertitta III (president/COO) and Blake Sartini (director of casino operations).

Frank Fertitta Jr., patriarch of Station Casinos, dies: Friday, August 21, 2009; By Mary Manning; Frank Fertitta Jr., the patriarch of Station Casinos, died today after heart surgery in a California hospital. Fertitta, 70, who had been ill for some time, died at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, sources close to the family said. Fertitta arrived in Las Vegas from Texas with his wife, Victoria, in 1960. He started working as a bellman at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino while he was learning to be a dealer.

Station Casinos President Lorenzo Fertitta, left, and his brother Frank Fertitta III, chief executive, were by far the two highest paid executives in Las Vegas in 2007. The bulk of their earnings came from exercising stock and options after Station Casinos was bought for $9 billion and taken private.

Station Casinos honchos hit the jackpot in ’07: Monday, June 16, 2008; By Liz Benston; Until the economy turned south, Las Vegas casino companies enjoyed a robust 2007, rewarding executives and leading a pair of brothers to a pot of gold at the end of their rainbow. Many executives, acting before gaming stocks plummeted, profited after selling hundreds of thousands of shares from exercised stock options and grants of stock. In a class of their own: Station Casinos Chief Executive Frank Fertitta, who in 2007 made $122.4 million in exercised options and vested stock.

A gambling world away from the Strip: Neighborhood casinos offer gaming deals, food courts and theaters; Thursday, May 15, 2008; By Natasha Shepherd; At most neighborhood casinos, families can eat their fill at a buffet and then the kids can either watch a movie or go bowling while parents gamble. Neighborhood casinos provide something for everyone, close to home, encouraging locals to avoid the Strip and downtown.

MOST INFLUENTIAL LAS VEGAS SPORTS FIGURES: Compiled by Ron Kantowski, Jeff Haney, Brian Hilderbrand and Rob Miech; Tuesday, February 6, 2007; Over the years, the Sun has ranked the area's sports movers and shakers.

John Katsilometes catches up with the Fertittas on the night they open their Red Rock Resort: Wednesday, April 19, 2006; By John Katsilometes; As the older brother notes, the two are hyper-competitive, but their seven-year age difference precluded any serious sibling competition between them when they were growing up. That relationship exists today.

Station's Econ 101: Sunday, January 8, 2006; By Liz Benston; If you want to track the explosive growth of Las Vegas, talk to the U.S. Census Bureau. If you want to understand what it means -- how it fires the valley's robust economic engine -- talk to the Fertittas, Lorenzo and Frank III, the brothers who run the Station Casinos chain.

Neighborhood Draw: Friday, December 23, 2005; By Liz Benston; The journey from Frank Fertitta Jr.'s casino pit 30 years ago to the new South Coast isn't easy to trace on a map, but anyone who wants to understand Las Vegas needs to try.

Professor mops up mob stereotypes, shows the positive impact of LV Italians: Tuesday, July 16, 1996; Lisa Sciortino; It's the stuff Las Vegas folklore is made of.

FRANK FERTITTA JR.

Frank Fertitta Jr., Station Casinos founder, personified "the great American success story," according to Alan Balboni, a professor of political science and history at the Community College of Southern Nevada. In Balboni's book, "Beyond the Mafia: Italian-Americans and the Development of Las Vegas," he says Fertitta moved to Las Vegas at age 21 with his wife and young child and started as a break-in blackjack dealer, taking a job as a busboy to make ends meet, then rising through the corporate ranks slowly but surely. In 1976, Fertitta purchased the off-Strip Bingo Palace and turned it into the Palace Station, which became the flagship of the Stations Casinos empire that includes the Texas Station, Red Rock Resort and Sunset Stations. His sons, Frank III and Lorenzo, took over the company in 1993.
Company information
110011 W. Charleston Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89135
367-2411
www.StationCasinos.com
Public or private: Private
Year founded: 1976
Properties owned in Nevada:
Palace Station, Las Vegas
Red Rock Resort, Las Vegas
Green Valley Ranch, Henderson
Sunset Station, Henderson
Boulder Station, Las Vegas
Wild Wild West, Las Vegas
Fiesta Henderson, Henderson
Texas Station, Las Vegas
Aliante Station, North Las Vegas
Santa Fe Station, Las Vegas
Fiesta Rancho, North Las Vegas
Wildfire Rancho, Las Vegas
Wildfire Boulder Highway, Henderson
Wildfire Casino and Lanes, Henderson
Barley's Casino and Brewing Co.
The Greens Gaming and Dining, Henderson
Lake Mead Casino, Henderson
Gold Rush Casino, Henderson
Top executives
Frank Fertitta III, Chairman, president and CEO.
Thomas Friel, Exec.VP, chief accounting officer and treasurer.
Richard Haskins, Exec. VP, general counsel and secretary.
Kevin Kelley, Exec. VP and chief operating officer.
Scott Nielson, Exec. VP and chief development officer.