Phil Ruffin

Phil Ruffin is a self-made billionaire casino owner and businessman best known as owner and president of Treasure Island Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Born in Hays, Kansas, he built his fortune in real estate, manufacturing, and hospitality before becoming a longtime Las Vegas gaming operator. Forbes and Bloomberg track him among the world's billionaires.

Ruffin started as an entrepreneur with a convenience store in Kansas, then expanded into real estate through Ruffin Companies, establishing ventures in Wichita in the mid-1960s. He later sold a convenience-store chain, made oil and gas investments, and entered Las Vegas gaming.

His first Las Vegas casino acquisition was the New Frontier Hotel & Casino in 1994; he sold it in 1998 and repurchased the site in 2004. The Trump International Hotel Las Vegas opened in 2008 as a partnership with Donald Trump, and in 2009 Ruffin acquired Treasure Island from MGM Mirage, adding one of the Strip's landmark resorts to his portfolio.

Today he continues to serve as owner and president of Treasure Island and co-owner of Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, with his business interests concentrated on Las Vegas hospitality and gaming operations.