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Landry’s CEO Tilman Fertitta has committed to reg from his position with his company if the United States Senate confirms his appointment by President Donald Trump as the nation’s ambassador to Italy. Despite earlier speculation to the contrary, correspondence from Fertitta to the US State Dept. confirms that he would step away from his role with Landry’s and its subsidiaries, which include the Golden Nugget casino chain.
If Fertitta is confirmed and follows through on his commitment, the new CEO of Landry’s will have an impact on Golden Nugget and its other brands. On the other hand, the potential confirmation of Fertitta to the ambassadorship wouldn’t appear to have any immediate impact on his personal investments like his significant stake in Wynn Resorts.
Fertitta details plans to US State Dept.
On March 16, Fertitta filed a letter with the US Office of Government Ethics, stating that, “upon confirmation, I will resign from my position with the entities listed in Appendix A,” of the communique. Appendix A to the letter includes many corporations under the Landry’s umbrella.
The appendix lists the Golden Nugget casino properties in the US specifically. Those include the Golden Nugget Atlantic City along with properties in Mississippi, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.
It’s important to separate the Golden Nugget brick-and-mortar casino brand from DraftKings purchased in 2022. Since that time, Fertitta has had no influence on the brand’s operations.
Unconfirmed reports of Fertitta’s potential appointment to the Italian ambassadorship surfaced in December. At this time, the US Senate has not scheduled a confirmation hearing for Fertitta.
Resignations like these are typical for people taking on ambassador roles to free the appointees to fulfill the necessary duties and remove any possible conflicts of interest in the role. However, many previously unquestioned norms have already fallen by the wayside in the early days of the second Trump istration. That fuelled earlier media speculation that Fertitta might be planning to defy precedent and try to juggle both roles.
The letter states that Fertitta will keep his personal holdings in Landry’s and accept a buyout upon his resignation as the company’s CEO. The letter suggests that Fertitta will also maintain his stakes in other companies, including Wynn.
Fertitta expands stake in Wynn
Fertitta first invested in Wynn in a big way in November 2022. That purchase gave him more control of shares of the company than all but one other individual at that time.
Fertitta ascended from there in of his investment in Wynn in November 2024, becoming the owner of more shares than anyone else. According to Bill McColl of Investopedia, Fertitta purchased 16,500 more shares on March 21 and 24 to bring his control of the stock to more than 12%.
Due to the size of his holdings in the company and the holdings of shares that one of Fertitta’s corporations also controls, there has been speculation that Fertitta would try to take an activist role in Wynn’s operations. So far, Fertitta has denied those rumors, stating that he invested in Wynn for personal gain.
His appointment to the ambassador position might quell such speculation as it might ensure his ive role in his Wynn investment. That could benefit Wynn’s stock price as uncertainty about the future direction of the company might make investors cautious.
At this time, Fertitta’s future in Landry’s depends on how the US Senate votes on his potential ambassadorship. The future of Golden Nugget casinos could also turn on that vote.
