- Phil Ruffin
Phillip G. Ruffin is an American
businessman and self-madebillionaire . His business interests lie largely incasino s,greyhound racing tracks,oil production,convenience store s, andreal estate . Ruffin lives inWichita, Kansas .Ruffin has been listed on the
Forbes 400 list of the country's richest people multiple times, most recently at #278 in 2005.cite news|url=http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/54/biz_06rich400_Phillip-Ruffin_H6MZ.html|title=Forbes 400: #278 Phillip Ruffin|publisher="Forbes Magazine "|date=2005] In the 2006 list, he was listed at #606 on theForbes Magazine list of the world's billionaires, with a reported net worth of$ 1.3 billion.cite news|url=http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/10/H6MZ.html|publisher="Forbes Magazine "|title=Billionaires: #606 Phillip Ruffin|date=2006] (This figure was before his 2007 record-setting sale of theNew Frontier Hotel and Casino on theLas Vegas Strip .)Personal
Ruffin's reputation is one of shying away from press coverage and publicity, so many details of his life are not well cited. Forbes listed him at age 70 in 2006, having been married and divorced once with three children, and a college dropout. He is engaged to be married again; Ruffin refuses to publicize her name, but she was seen by his side as Ruffin awaited returns from a referendum on legalizing
slot machine s at his greyhound track in Wichita. [cite news|url=http://www.kansas.com/news/casinos/story/146130.html|publisher="The Wichita Eagle "|last=Wenzl|first=Roy|title=After slots loss, Ruffin moves to next deal|date=2007-08-12] . She is thought to be Miss Ukraine 2001 title holder supermodelOleksandra Nikolayenko . (http://www.odessa.ua/news/11845/)Businesses
New Frontier Hotel and Casino
Ruffin is best known for his purchase of the New Frontier, one of The Strip's most historic properties. When he bought the resort, it had been mired in a longtime, sometimes violent strike with the
Culinary Workers Union , one of the most powerful unions in Las Vegas. Ruffin settled the strike very soon after his purchase in 1999.Ruffin announced plans to raze the New Frontier and replace it 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 was the largest per-acre price in The Strip's history. [cite news|url=http://www.lvrj.com/news/7530232.html|publisher="Las Vegas Review-Journal "|title= MORE THAN $1.2 BILLION: New Frontier sale sets record|last=Stutz|first=Howard|date=2007-05-16]Trump International Tower
Ruffin's joint venture with his good friend
Donald Trump involved a portion of the New Frontier land. TheTrump International Hotel and Tower (Las Vegas) , built immediately adjacent to theFashion Show Mall , broke ground in July 2005, and is nearing completion. [ [http://www.ruffinco.com/news.htm Ruffin Companies: Ground Broken on Trump International Hotel and Tower Las Vegas] ] Ruffin has half interest in the development, having contributed the land for his part of the deal. [ [http://www.photosecrets.com/tlv.corps.r.html#ruffin Who Owns Vegas: Ruffin Companies] ]Greyhound tracks
Ruffin's company owns Wichita Greyhound Park. On August 7, 2007, Ruffin announced that he would close the track, after a
referendum to allowslot machine s orcasino gambling at the track failed. [cite news|url=http://www.kansas.com/news/casinos/story/142771.html|title=With slots out, Ruffin says he'll close track|last=Laviana|first=Hurst|coauthors=Dion Lefler|publisher="The Wichita Eagle "|date=2007-08-07]Convenience stores
Ruffin Companies' web site states that the company owns 61 convenience stores leased to
Total and operated byDiamond Shamrock over a three-state area. [http://www.ruffinco.com/ruffin_properties.htm Ruffin Companies: Properties] ]Lodging
Ruffin's Hotel Group division owns and operates 13 hotels under the
Marriott Hotels ,Fairfield Inn andCourtyard by Marriott brands inOklahoma ,Kansas ,California ,Texas andAlabama . [ [http://www.ruffinco.com/Hotel%20group.htm Ruffin Companies: Hotel Group] ]Real estate
Ruffin owns various commercial real estate holdings in Kansas and in the
Tulsa, Oklahoma area.Harper Trucks
Ruffin owns and operates Harper Trucks, the nation's largest manufacturer of
hand truck s.References
External links
* [http://www.ruffinco.com Ruffin Companies official web site]
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