On May 11, 1979, commodities trader and “family man” Arthur Gerald Jones went missing. His wife told investigators that six months prior, he’d lost his job, and due to the fact that despite selling his CBOT seat and forging her name on an application for a second mortgage, Jones still had a bunch of gambling debt to pay off, possibly to the mob, foul play was suspected, and he was eventually declared dead in 1986. This would be sad if not for the fact that AGJ has actually been living and working (as a bookie, natch, and apparently also on his tan) in Las Vegas for the last 23 years. Continue reading »
Las Vegas
Chicago-Based Commodities Trader Declared Dead In 1986 Actually Alive And Well In Las Vegas
By Bess LevinHeaded To Vegas Next Week? If You Like Your Planes To Be GPS-Enabled, Consider Changing Plans
By Bess LevinProbably no big deal, but if you’re a nervous flyer, please note that Phil Falcone’s LightSquared will be running some tests that might interfere with the technology on aircrafts flying near Vegas. Continue reading »
Deutsche Bank Needs Less People Vomiting Outside Its Las Vegas Nightclub, More People Blowing Money In Its Casino
By Bess Levin
As you may have heard, Deutsche Bank owns a casino (/hotel) in Vegas, called the Cosmopolitan. The Germans never intended to run the joint, originally merely funding the project by developer Ian Bruce Eichner but in 2008 Eichner had to go and default on his loans. No one else wanted to invest in the place, so DB decided to man up and finish the job itself, laying out an additional $3 billion of its own money. Allowing themselves to get momentarily excited, Deutsche scrapped Eichner’s plans and hired its own team of gambling and real estate experts, architects and interior designers. The Cosmpolitan now includes “a three-story crystal-strewn bar meant to evoke the inside of a chandelier” and guests in its hotel reportedly love the massive rooms that typically sell-out. Unfortunately, the bank is nowhere near close to breaking even on its investment (and lost $139.5 million in 2010), which might have something to do with the fact that no one is gambling there. Instead, visitors think of it more as a place to eat dinner, get drunk, and then vomit while waiting to get into a club. Continue reading »
If you’re an insecure Paulson and Co investor, you’ve probably spent at least several hours if not days or weeks at a time wondering how John felt about you. Would he like you as much if you weren’t a paying client? Does he prefer older investors? Does he play favorites with the gold fund? Well wonder no longer. His feelings have been made clear by this year’s investor conferences. All but one strategy have already had their events in Manhattan. Nice, but not the same as spending a whole weekend with him that potentially includes waking up with Mike Tyson’s tiger in your hotel suite after marrying a stripper named Jade. That opportunity goes to investors in Paulson Advantage, the flagship fund, which will have its meeting in Vegas next week. Continue reading »
THEhotel at Mandalay Bay is home to Hubert Keller’s new restaurant, Fleur. The menu includes a burger priced at $5,000 (which comes with a $2,500 bottle of wine, so manage your expectations about what this mere $2,500 piece of meat will taste like now) and Fleur representatives optimistically believe they’ll sell 6 of these things this year. Continue reading »
The bank claims it wants its new casino, The Cosmpolitan, to be a success and yet… Continue reading »
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