Tim Poster & Tom Breitling, Former Owners, The Golden Nugget Casino
In the early 1990s, two energetic, hard- working and optimistic recent college graduates had maybe a few hundred dollars between them. However, it never stopped them from living well beyond their means and getting in to see their hero, Frank Sinatra, perform live in concert in Las Vegas.
The entertainment capital of the world has been good to multimillionaire entrepreneurs and visionaries Tim Poster and Tom Breitling, both single and 35. Today, they are the proud new owners of the vibrant Golden Nugget Casino in downtown Las Vegas, and are bringing back to life the exciting vintage Vegas Vibes of the past.
"I was only six when we moved to Las Vegas," recalls Poster. I remember my uncle picking us up in his Cadillac from the airport and driving us to the Strip. It was dusk and the Stardust sign was spectacular. I thought this was fantasyland and this was the place for me. It was like a fish taking to water."
"Las Vegas is the land of opportunity," states Breitling. "I came here in 1993 in my Honda with $20 in my pockets. You can’t be afraid, you must go for it. When the right time comes you have to take advantage of it."
When Poster was a junior at USC, he enrolled in their latest entrepreneur classes. One of his class projects was to create a business plan. His plan centered on a company in the travel services industry and earned an A for his hard work and effort.
In 1990, Poster put his plan to work and started Las Vegas Reservation Systems based on booking hotel properties in Las Vegas. He brought aboard Breitling, a former sportscaster, as a partner to help turn his vision into reality. Poster recalls, "Tom is credited with the idea of putting our business on the Internet with travelscape.com and I came up with the risky idea at the time to invest $100,000 in banner ads, which was one of the keys to our early success."
The Internet pioneers rode the wave with the huge demand in on-line travel booking and with the tremendous growth of Las Vegas. In 2000, the two partners sold their business to Microsoft’s Expedia for an estimated $105 million. Still in their early 30s, with all the money they might ever need, both single, plenty of time, good health and a zest for life, what would be the next big opportunity they could truly be passionate about?
"I always wanted to own my own casino," states Poster enthusiastically. "And Tom acquired my dream as well." After a few years of doing their research, the golden boys raised $215 million and purchased the Golden Nugget Casino from MGM Mirage and received their gaming license on January 23, 2004.
"The Golden Nugget is truly about entertaining people," says Breitling. "We do it in an elegant and exciting environment. Our mantra is vintage Vegas for the modern day. Everything that made old Vegas successful — personality, service, class, nonstop action — from the legendary Tony Bennett to Jewel, we have it all here."
With the 13-week "The Casino," Mark Burnett’s reality series on Fox, both Poster and Breitling became overnight celebrities to millions of viewers, who also got a taste of the sizzling action at the Golden Nugget.
In February 2005, Tim Poster and Tom Breitling agreed to sell the historic Golden Nugget to Houston-based Landry’s Restaurants for $295 million. It will be interesting to see what golden opportunities may be next for these two risk-taking entrepreneurs.
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"May all of your Las Vegas Dreams come true." - Jim Bickford
"Las Vegas is the land of opportunity," states Breitling. "I came here in 1993 in my Honda with $20 in my pockets. You can’t be afraid, you must go for it. When the right time comes you have to take advantage of it."
