Landry CEO Fertitta becomes Wynn Resorts’ largest individual shareholder

Billionaire Tilman Fertitta has increased his ownership stake in Wynn Resorts to 9.9%, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The filing indicates a passive position, though multiple people familiar with the matter tell CNBC they suspect Fertitta will be demanding.

Wynn’s share price popped 9% Thursday on the news, in line with its 200-day moving average. Over 20 years, the stock has exhibited lots of volatility but not as much sustained growth.

The stock is up roughly 57% over two decades, compared to Marriott’s 20-year gains of more than 950%. Hilton, which went public in 2013, is up more than 500% since its debut.

Wynn Resorts and Fertitta declined to comment on his increased stake.

Fertitta, CEO of Landry’s, is the owner of the Houston Rockets as well as eight Golden Nugget casinos across the U.S., including downtown Las Vegas. He is planning a new 43-story casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip.

He is frequently outspoken about issues that affect Las Vegas, whether it is Formula One or historic union wage contracts. Wynn Las Vegas is the top-of-the-line, uber-luxurious resort on the Strip, and it owns two high-end resorts in Macao. Its customers are wealthier and generally shop and gamble more.

But Wynn’s third-quarter earnings missed expectations for revenue and adjusted property EBITDA in both Macao and Las Vegas, which began to show some softening after a long, hot streak.

Analysts occasionally question the company about plans to develop or sell 162 acres in Las Vegas, including a 128 acre golf course and a 38 acre parcel across from its resort complex on the Strip.

In a June note, Jefferies analyst David Katz estimated the land was worth slightly more than $2 billion, but noted there is “no evident plan for development or sale.”

Some investors have privately grumbled that Wynn is blowing its luxury brand power and best-in-class hospitality status domestically while it focuses on trying to establish a new gaming market in the Middle East.

During the company’s third-quarter earnings call earlier this month, at an investor day in October and in an interview with CNBC, Wynn CEO Craig Billings kept the spotlight on the opportunities he sees in the United Arab Emirates.

Wynn Resorts has a 40% stake in a new integrated casino resort being built in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates for a projected cost of $5.1 billion.

Today the stock trades for roughly 70% more than when Fertitta bought 6.9 million shares at about $54 apiece in 2022. That position gave him a 6.2% stake in the company and made him the second-largest individual shareholder in Wynn, after co-founder Elaine Wynn.

Now with his 9.9% stake, Fertitta supplants Elaine Wynn, who co-founded the company with her then-husband Steve Wynn and left its board of directors at the end of 2020.