Going Going Gone - Caesars Entertainment bought

[jay]

Billionaire Tilman Fertitta has made a big bet on the casino scene. His company, Fertitta Entertainment, has entered into an agreement to buy Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR) for approximately $5.7 billion (1) — $31 a share — including absorbing Caesars’ outstanding $11.9 billion in debt, according to the Wall Street Journal (1). Shares of Caesars are up 4% over the past five days.

Fertitta fended off a competitive offer from fellow billionaire Carl Icahn’s firm. Fertitta had his sights set on Caesars for some time, with the Houston Chronicle (2) reporting he made his first bid back in 2019. The New York Post (3) said it was rejected because the board believed it would saddle Caesars with too much debt.

The acquisition will be financed through a combination of equity from Fertitta Entertainment, assumed Caesars debt, and newly committed debt financing through a group of 10 banks, according to the official statement (4). Caesars’ board of directors greenlit the sale and recommended that shareholders approve the merger. The agreement includes a ”go-shop” period through July 11 (4), which means Caesars can seek alternative acquisition proposals.

Caesars was recently acquired by Eldorado in 2020
Caesars Entertainment, Inc., formerly Eldorado Resorts, Inc., is an American hotel and casino entertainment company founded and based in Reno, Nevada, that operates more than 50 properties.[2] Eldorado Resorts acquired Caesars Entertainment Corporation and changed its own name to Caesars Entertainment on July 20, 2020.
---> The following Wiki is a good historical read and traces the Eldorado back to its Don Carano and members of the family.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesars_Entertainment
Despite rumors mostly linked to the American-Itallian last name there are no known mob linkages to the Carano family, he passed in 2017.

A Bloomberg report from November 2025 ( found Caesars’ shares were the worst-performing among the major Las Vegas resort companies. Shares had fallen roughly 40% (1) over the prior year; however, after news of the Fertitta bid broke, shares closed up nearly 19% on the day. Las Vegas is grappling with waning tourism, having recorded (9) its sharpest annual visitor drop since 1970, excluding the pandemic years.

[PapaDrew]

A bottle of water was $8.99 at Caesar's last time I was there.  So will it go up or down now that Fertitta has his hands in this pie?
   

[shortrackskater]

Same story from me:
HAPPY I went there in the 90's - before you had to spend  all your money on a bottle of water, or parking, or "resort fees" and all the other BS that's killed the Las Vegas I used to know.
Back then, it had an awesome mall with that little animatronic show just outside the magic shop. Great casino, hot cocktail waitresses (!) and just a fun place you could explore, and spend a little money too! I'm not sure if it's still exists, but there was a moving sidewalk that took you in from the street, but you had to "hoof it out" when you were leaving. 

[jay]

In the 90's they had a hidden magical empire right off of the mainfloor casino.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF3kX2p5lZ8

It was a great venue specifically designed for magic shows.

The moving walk way came from two directons on the strip to a cresenda that had talking heads of Caesar and other emperors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTW5cgyK_RE

From there it took you inside. This is before the whole expansion into the forum shops existed.
I think it now dumps you off in Othellos courtyard where they have outdoor patios, timeshare sales, and another theater for the variety show Absineth.

I have no recollection of the magic "store" that you reference but thats not saying it wasn't there.
The one I remember was at the Monte-Carlo on the second floor but closed when they rebranded the whole thing as the Park MGM.
It was the Lance Burton magic store. Lance was lured away from Mirage/Treasure Island with a long term residency and residuals from the magic store.
Lance has a solid reputation as a showman, and was only second to David Copperfield who could be argued to be an illusionist and not a magician.
Davids reputation is in the toilet for long running sexual misconduct and drugging allegations, MGM jettisoned him earlier this year (2026) due to his name showing up in the Epstien files.
Incidently David owns his own private island also.

[shortrackskater]

The magic of the internet confirmed the existence of the store. There's a few sites that mentioned it as well.

"Yes, there was a highly popular magic shop called Magic Masters located in The Forum Shops at Caesars during the 1990s.The store featured a distinctive layout with a secret door leading to a replica of Harry Houdini's library, and it was famously situated right on the circular rotunda near the Bacchus statue and the Roman-themed people movers."

Hmmmm David's island - I don't want to go there. I might disappear!
I'll never understand why people like this, do things like THAT.
I guess you can be amazingly talented at one thing, yet be a complete loser at everything else.

[K3V0]

wow ceasars is getting passed around