RUFFIN COMES CLEAN: He’s Secretly Been Trying to Sell Circus Circus — Report
Posted on: January 17, 2025, 11:43h.
Last updated on: January 18, 2025, 02:53h.
Ever since Phil Ruffin purchased Circus Circus for $825M in December 2019, industry insiders have predicted his desire to flip the aging casino resort for a much higher price. Now, in a new interview, the 89-year-old casino tycoon confirms these predictions.
“Why do you think I bought Circus Circus?” he asked Forbes in a story it published Friday. “For the 102 acres. 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.”
Ruffin picked up the Frontier for $165 million from the Elardi family in 1998, made virtually no improvements to it, then flipped it for $1.2 billion (a 700% profit) nine years later.
Contrary to popular belief, Ruffin didn’t implode the Frontier. That was the work of its next owner, El Ad Properties, whose plans to replace it with a replica of New York City’s Plaza Hotel imploded in their faces when the Great Recession hit.
Other than $30 million of renovations Ruffin sank into Circus Circus in 2022, he seems to be following his Frontier game plan.
Hardly Ruffin It
Ruffin has had plenty of reasons not to rush into a Circus Circus sale. Thanks to the risks assumed by Resorts World and Fontainebleau — well maybe not all the risks allegedly assumed by Resorts World — the value of Circus Circus’ land has continued increasing in step with the rest of the Strip’s burgeoning north end.
Also, unlike the Frontier, Circus Circus is a cash cow. According to Vital Vegas, its annual earnings are $90 million before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (a fancy way of saying casino cash flow). That means it has no debt, while most of its competitors work at a loss if you figure in costs (including interest on debt).
“We do well,” is all Ruffin would concede to Forbes. “We sell two-dollar beer, two-dollar hot dogs, two-dollar popcorn. People love it. A guy can eat and drink for six bucks.”
Taking it Public
Until now, it was in Ruffin’s best interest to keep his intention to sell Circus Circus close to his chest. For example, the premature but viral rumor of its sale last year reportedly cost Ruffin an $8 million deal for Live Nation to exclusively present 2025 events at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds, an empty lot on Circus Circus’ land, according to Vital Vegas.
Ruffin isn’t saying why he’s reversing course and going public about his intentions now. However, it can safely be assumed that if any of the offers he has acknowledged receiving (“Let’s just say there is interest,” he told Forbes) came within acceptable range of his asking price, Circus Circus would have sold already.
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.”
Putting such a blatant sales pitch out there via a national business publication ensures that every single venture capitalist in the world now knows that Circus Circus is on the block.
When he finally makes the sale, Ruffin said, he plans to buy another Strip property with the proceeds. That’s most likely because capital gains taxes can be deferred by using the proceeds from the sale of one investment property to purchase a similar one.
“I have my eyes on some properties,” Ruffin said, noting that, if nothing else in Vegas works out, he’s willing to look elsewhere.
“It could be in another town, if it’s good enough” he said.
Last Comments ( 5 )
RUFFIN IS ASKING TOO MUCH. Should the "land" include the LV Fairgrounds, I estimate it at around $1.5 billion. He bought it all for less than a billion in 2019, and now claims it went up in value by 400%? Ridiculous. When one goes by the revenue of Circus Circus and even build an adjacent property on the Fairgrounds, the revenue doesn't add up. Even building a medical facility there would not create enough revenue to justify his value, which frankly he is simply plucking out of the sky. "PRIME" property does NOT mean it could sell for far more than its worth. he is off his rocker. Perhaps he is bargaining on someone that has money to throw away, like a billionaire worth many billions, that would simply want it for prestige. INVESTORS are not going to go for $5 billion as far as ROI is concerned on that land, which monies should at maximum be recouped within 10 years. Later than 10 years it's becoming old news again, would need maintenance which = costs. Circus circus also needs UPDATING, modernized, and THAT would cost a heap. So Ruffin is dreaming from an investors standpoint, so I guess he will hold out until some billionaire with money to throw around for "prestige" buys it. Well, we will all know that billionaire did it for the prestige won't we? No investor should offer more than $1.5 billion for Circus Circus which should include the LV Fairgrounds adjacent.
He's in it for 850m, put's a 5b number out there to start negotiations and then probably sells it for 2.5b and more than doubles his money. Why did he go public this time? Likely because he needs to sell quickly. If Resorts World or Fontainebleau implode (which is not a far stretch), The north strip will lose a lot of value and investors may choose to spend their money on these alternative properties instead. I'm rooting for Ruffin, fun to see this guy make big bets and pull them off.
I could see maybe a little more than $2 billion for the land alone, but not $5 billion for everything
But much less to tear it down.
No one in their right mind would spend 5BN on that junk property, it would probably cost another 1BN to bring it up to true Vegas Standards.