UH System Board of Regents Chairman and billionaire CEO of Landry’s Inc. Tilman Fertitta has temporarily laid off 40,000 casino, hotel and restaurant employees, according to Bloomberg.
Fertitta’s decision to let the thousands of employees go was to avoid losses during coronavirus related shut-downs. The University alumnus owns the Golden Nugget casinos and multiple restaurants under Landry’s Inc.
To avoid a long-term economic downfall, Fertitta recommends the government allows limited operations of businesses.
“I think what we are doing with the shutdown is good but in a few weeks people will need to be around people,” Fertitta said. “Otherwise you are going to go into an economic crisis that is going to take us years to dig ourselves out of.”
To create a less drastic economic impact, Fertitta said restaurants and casinos should be allowed to operate at 30 to 40 percent of capacity. Fertitta believes this will enable companies to stay in business.
“We are doing basically no business,” Fertitta said. “This is very hard on a lot of working families, but we have to survive or there is no company.”
Beyond owning The Golden Nugget and Landry’s Inc, Fertitta is the owner of the Houston Rockets and the namesake of Fertitta Center.
He attended studied business administration and hospitality management at UH.