Tilman Fertitta Plans to Resign as CEO of Landry’s

Billionaire Tilman Fertitta will resign as CEO of Landry’s if he joins the Trump administration.

The wealthiest person in Houston said he’d give up his role at the hospitality company if confirmed as the U.S. ambassador to Italy and San Marino, the Houston Chronicle reported. He shared his plans in a letter to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.

President Trump nominated Fertitta to the role last year. His nomination was referred to the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on March 10.

Fertitta doesn’t plan to give up his stake in the Houston Rockets, but he will resign from positions at Central Houston Inc., the Clutch City Foundation, Greater Houston Partnership, Tilman and Paige Fertitta Family Foundation and the University of Houston System, where he’s the chair of the Board of Regents, the Houston Business Journal reported

He has owned Landry’s since 1988. He took the company public in 1993 and then private again in 2020 in a $1.4 billion deal.

Landry’s is the the owner of Golden Nugget Hotel & Casinos, multiple hotels including Houston’s Post Oak Hotel & Tower, and restaurant chains like Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Del Frisco’s Grille and Joe’s Crab Shack.

Fertitta is a longtime Republican donor and major real estate player in Houston. He acquired the River Oaks District last year for $450 million with plans to expand the 663,400-square-foot entertainment and luxury retail district with 4.3 acres that he acquired at 4702 Westheimer Road.

Fertitta spoke at a Houston event The Real Deal hosted in December where he shared insights on the importance of location in real estate decisions, including his $30 million acquisition of Keens Steakhouse in New York City.

“The price of real estate can always go up. The restaurant might not, but the real estate will,” he said.

–Jess Hardin