The Business Advice That Made Tilman Fertitta His Billions

Photo Credit: Nick Garcia

BY LAURA SCHREFFLER
PHOTOGRAPHY NICK GARCIA
GROOMING SONIA REISIN  
SHOT ON LOCATION IN MIAMI, FLORIDA

“My biggest advice to anyone,” announces billionaire Tilman Fertitta, “is this: don’t be a seller, be a buyer.”

If only it were as easy as the chairman, CEO, and owner of Fertitta Entertainment — which encompasses the restaurant giant Landry’s Inc., the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casinos, and the NBA’s Houston Rockets, among other investments — who is also the New York Times best-selling author of Shut up and Listen! and star of CNBC’s Billion Dollar Buyer — makes it look. The Texas-born businessman gestures behind him, a subtle indicator of what he has bought in recent years. He’s sitting pretty in the $125,000 per night, 22,000-square-foot penthouse suite of The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston, the five-star luxury property he opened in 2018. With the touch of a button, Sky-Frame floor-to-ceiling window wall opens to a terrace, where a heated swimming pool, hot tub, and outdoor kitchen await vie for attention with breathtaking views of the Houston skyline. There are two floors of grandeur and opulence here inclusive of a half-court basketball playground, a full-service fitness center, and a personal theater. The interior has a yacht-like feel, so much so that I wonder whether he’s speaking to me from his 252-foot, $150 million superyacht Boardwalk (which is where we executed his photoshoot while the boat was docked in Miami earlier this year).

Fertitta’s motion doesn’t just encompass the hotel but, in fact, the entire surrounding Houston River Oaks District — an 18-acre mixed-use development that’s home to luxury boutiques, upscale restaurants, high-end apartments, and office spaces that he purchased for a reported $450 million back in March.

And so, this piece of advice makes sense in a crazy kind of way — a way that only the truly wealthy can understand. Be a buyer, he says. Well, quite. Who needs to shop retail when you can just buy the whole shopping district? But then, when one occupies the number 256 spot on Forbes’ world’s richest list and has the accolade of “World’s Richest Restaurateur” with a net worth of $9.4 billion, “retail therapy” takes on a whole new meaning.

That isn’t his only piece of advice though. When you get time with Tilman Fertitta, you’re going to maximize it. The rest is as follows: “Be the bull,” he says. “Have the right team. Know your numbers. Follow the 95/5 rule: everything is important. Notice the small things. If 95 percent is right, five percent is wrong. Find it and fix it. Every day is a learning process.” And last but certainly not least, “Don’t assume anything.”

I internalize his advice, because Fertitta certainly seems to have no trouble doing what most cannot, and what’s more, he appears to do it with ease. But perhaps he is just savvier than most, more ruthless, and more tenacious. Either way, his way is a tried-and-true recipe for success. Which is why, at this moment in time, I can’t help but think of him as the proverbial king of his castle. He is, in my mind, the very picture of the man who has it all, sitting here in the spoils of his wealth.

Photo Credit: Nick Garcia

That’s the vibe he’s putting out on this Friday morning in early May, anyway, as we Zoom. He’s wearing a simple grey T-shirt along with a disarming smile. When he speaks, his thick Texan drawl draws me in immediately. He may very well be one of the richest men in the world, but his charming, low-key personality has no doubt helped him in his business dealings — most of which are in the restaurant and hospitality spaces. Fertitta currently owns more than 600 properties in 36 states and in over 15 countries, with a collection of 60 award-winning restaurant concepts such as Catch, Mastro’s Steakhouse, Oceanaire Seafood Room, Morton’s The Steakhouse, Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, The Palm, Chart House, Landry’s Seafood House, Rainforest Cafe, and Saltgrass Steak House (among others), the first mentioned of which is the reason for today’s call.

Fertitta, along with business partners Eugene Remm and Mark Birnbaum of Catch Hospitality Group (CHG), quietly opened their most recent Catch location in Miami’s South of Fifth neighborhood on May 10. The trio’s globally influenced seafood restaurant started as a standalone flagship in New York back in 2011 and has since become one of the most renowned restaurant groups in the nation, with current eateries in Los Angeles and Las Vegas and with Dallas and Scottsdale to come. Its sister concept, Catch Steak, has outposts in New York, Aspen, and Los Angeles as well.

These locations are, of course, strategic. Fertitta is in the business of making money, after all, and the chosen cities are the hottest in America. Which is why, naturally, Catch came to Miami.

“We felt like Miami was the next natural super spot,” he shares. “We’re in the hottest cities in America, and just as with New York, LA, and Aspen, there’s a magic to Miami. When you’re in Miami, it feels almost as if you could be in Europe. It’s one of the greatest cities in the world.”

Indeed, “Magic City” residents are in for a treat at Catch’s first Floridian outpost. The 23,000-square-foot space, which is divided evenly between indoor dining and an open-air terrace, is just as gorgeous as its peers. As designed by Rockwell Group, the restaurant feels like a fantastical, tropical escape, with décor that celebrates the neighborhood’s history and pays homage to the city’s lush landscape, balmy nights, and iconic Floridian “Mediterranean Deco” architecture. Refined materials such as bronze, antique mirror, bold marble, lacquer paints, Venetian plaster, and rich contrasting woods, are intricately layered with lush florals and dramatic lighting inside a sumptuous conservatory-inspired atmosphere.

“It definitely has a Miami vibe,” Fertitta explains. “It feels very South Beach, intentionally.” [Birnbaum agrees, descriptively noting that, “It reminds me of New York and LA in their best days, all wrapped up in the swimsuit that’s Miami.”]

The same can be said for the cuisine. Though Catch staples are on the table, so to speak, the latest location will see some local adaptations. Expect, says Fertitta, different kinds of fish, such as grouper and conch, with a menu that fits the culinary scene of South Florida to a “T.”

  For those unfamiliar, the brand features modern renditions of classic dishes, with a shareable style of dining that marries simple yet elegant seafood, sushi, and steak with excellent service and a buzzy feel. Signature nigiri and sashimi, as well as cold dishes of crudos and ceviches all feature fish flown in directly from Japan’s Toyosu Market. Catch is also one of the few American restaurants fully licensed and certified to sell authentic true Kobe A5. Catch Miami Beach will serve its signature wagyu hot rock dish — a tableside preparation of Kobe A5 beef from the Hyogo Prefecture — as part of the restaurant’s top-tier wagyu program. Beloved classics such as the Catch roll, truffle sashimi, mushroom spaghetti, and Cantonese lobster are all also on offer here.

And although there are commonalities for all of the eateries that fall under the Catch umbrella, the Miami location is unique, he insists. “I think Miami is beginning to be overbuilt a bit now, but truly, Catch is special. It’s right there on South Beach, right in the midst of Milos, the Major Food Group restaurants, and Prime 112, but it’s such a great, distinctly different alternative to [them]. It’s going to find its place in the area for sure. The first week was unbelievable; we couldn’t be any happier with the volumes.”

To punctuate his point, he slips on his glasses and starts looking through the previous night’s sales reports. He won’t confide just what those sales were, but he says he’s not just satisfied but happy. His extremely calculated gamble has clearly paid off, as expected, if his Cheshire-cat-who-ate-the-canary-and-then-took-all-the-cream grin is any indication.

Photo Credit: Catch Restaurants

Photo Credit: Catch Restaurants

Photo Credit: Catch Restaurants

Photo Credit: Catch Restaurants

Photo Credit: Catch Restaurants

But he didn’t do it alone. Years ago, Fertitta told me that the secret recipe to his success was the strength of the company around him, and that sentiment remains true today.

“When you get large, you can’t micromanage anymore. When you decide to become a big company, you’re entirely dependent upon your people,” he explains, noting, “We have eight casinos, a dozen hotels, three amusement parks, four aquariums, 500 restaurants, and office buildings. I just bought one of the best shopping districts in the United States. I couldn’t manage all that alone.”

With this particular venture, Fertitta shares his success with his business partners, Remm and Birnbaum. “Eugene and Mark are very familiar with Miami as well, and the chefs that we bring in. I’ve had restaurants in Miami for years and years — including Mastro’s Ocean Club, which we opened in Brickell earlier this year. I know what the restaurant should be, but I’m not necessarily going to go down there and tell all of these people how I think it should be. We’re all in alignment. If they made a suggestion that I didn’t agree with, I’d speak up. But we have a great team; they put together a great menu and a great design, and I approved it.”
That being said, “My relationship with them is really, really good,” he maintains. “It’s been great for them because they were able to grow, and it’s been very good for our company. I’ve never had a cross word working with either of them. They’ve had cross words,” he says with a laugh, “but I haven’t. Personally, I like people to speak up. I don’t have a problem with that.”

Fertitta Entertainment has certainly benefited from how well its captain listens — as well as his sense of timing and true financial independence. In the last few years alone, he’s snapped up two trophy properties in said River Oaks District, as well as the storied Montage Laguna Beach in Southern California — and he entirely owns all, which is no mean feat.

“The last 12 months have been hard for people in commercial real estate to do deals, so I’ve been able to pick up two of the best properties in America, both of which were over a billion dollars. It was easier for me to [purchase the properties] than others because I’m able to do it as an individual, without partners. I still financed them, but I’m able to do things through private wealth institutions while everybody else has partners. So, they have to deal with the commercial banks, and the commercial banks aren’t doing real estate loans right now. But because I’m in the private wealth sector for those kinds of loans — remember, I deal in the commercial side, as well as the institutional side of things — I’m able to do stuff that other people just aren’t able to do. It’s worked out well for me.”

He says this so casually, dropping two billion dollars like it was $200, that I simply goggle at him, mouth agape, wondering if he’s only so cucumber cool in the moment. But no, he’s always this relaxed, he assures me, and has no doubt or anxiety about the cost of his business dealings. [Which also includes the aforementioned properties, GoldenNuggetCasino.com, which was recognized as the top iGaming operator in the country (it recently merged with DraftKings, and he remains one of DraftKings’ largest shareholders); Post Oak Motor Cars, a dealership home to Bentley, Rolls-Royce, and Bugatti; the historic Huntting Inn in the Hamptons; The San Luis Resort Spa and Convention Center; The Westin Houston Downtown; and many other notable regional hotels such as the Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier, Kemah Boardwalk, Downtown Aquarium Denver, Nashville, and Houston, and Tower of The Americas in San Antonio. He is also the second largest shareholder at Wynn, Inc. behind Elaine Wynn.

Photo Credit: Catch Restaurants

Photo Credit: Catch Restaurants

Photo Credit: Catch Restaurants

Photo Credit: Catch Restaurants

The shake of his head seems to say no, I don’t trip about a measly two billion dollars. “I’ve been around for a long time, and I don’t sell assets. I think part of the reason my net worth has grown so much over the years is because I don’t sell assets,” he admits.

“Go back and look at anybody, and if they’ve been around 25 years and they live in the same house that they bought 25 years ago, it’s probably quadrupled. So, if you look at all the stuff that I’ve done in the last 25, 30, 35 years, everything’s either quadrupled or increased by six-to-10 times what I paid for it. And I’m always looking.”

Right now, and always, Fertitta is looking for the next best thing, and trying to figure out what to do with six acres of real estate he purchased on the Las Vegas Strip for $270 million, across from ARIA and The Cosmopolitan. He initially intended to build a 43-story hotel on the lot but now, he remains undecided. “I’m still kicking it around, trying to figure out what to do there,” he says. “I have some ideas, but nothing I can commit to right now.” He also purchased the old Hard Rock Hotel in Lake Tahoe, which he says will be “the nicest property in Tahoe when we get through with it.”

Until he finds his next acquisition, he’ll also be focusing his attention on the Houston Rockets, the NBA team he purchased in 2017 for a record (at the time) of $2.2 billion. Here, too, he is the sole owner.

During his first year as owner, the Rockets advanced to the Western Conference Finals and set the franchise record for the most wins in a single season. And although that didn’t happen last season, he’s confident in the team’s success. “We had the most plus wins of any team in the NBA last year, we have the best six young players as a group in the NBA, and we’ll get Steven Adams and Tari Eason back this year from injuries. We’re in the tough West, but we feel really good and positive about this coming year. We just got the number three pick of the draft, too; we should have ended up at nine, but we got lucky and fell to three,” he boasts.
“Lucky” is certainly an adjective that applies to Fertitta, but only in part. He is absolutely a man who has made his own luck.

This is why he’s able to afford his stunning penthouse, hotel, district, and more; why he can hop on his 252-foot, $150 million yacht — the equivalent of a five-star hotel at sea — or fly anywhere in the world on his Gulfstream G650 and G550 at a moment’s notice; and how Fertitta casually mentions that rapper Drake “stays with me all the time” at his penthouse at The Post Oak Hotel at Upton Houston when he’s in town.

So, when Tilman Fertitta speaks, I take the title of his 2019 business book Shut up and listen! literally and do as I’m told. As he signs off to enjoy his day, he imparts this final piece of wisdom: “Keep looking for those hard-to-find trophy assets,” he advises. “And don’t let them go.”

I hear him loud and clear. Catch, but don’t release.

CATCHING UP WITH CATCH CO-FOUNDERS EUGENE REMM

AND MARK BIRNBAUM

EUGENE REMM
How did the partnership with Tilman come to be? 
We met at Catch New York when he came in for dinner. I introduced myself and expressed my interest in how he scaled his business. Normally, I’m more subtle and give VIPs their space, but he’s the Michael Jordan of our business, so I just went for it. He was incredibly humble, complimentary, and inquisitive about the Catch brand. I basically invited myself and Mark to Houston to see his operation, and within a week, we were touring his 400-person office building, learning about the different departments. He loved the Catch brand but wanted us to prove ourselves in a market that wasn’t our backyard of New York City. A few months later, we opened Catch LA, which became very successful and demonstrated our ability to scale. In typical Tilman style, we became partners on Mark and I’s birthday, June 10, 2017, to celebrate the occasion. That was seven years ago.

Have you learned anything from Tilman by working together, business advice or otherwise?
We have learned so much, but mostly the fundamentals of business. While we knew how to fill a restaurant, we didn’t know how to scale it. We knew how to run a floor, but not necessarily the intricacies of food cost and labor models. He and his team taught us about structure, systems, and the unwavering determination to do it right or not do it at all. He emphasized the importance of focusing on numbers without losing sight of the customer experience, always putting that ahead of any cost savings. Lastly, he taught us to continually strive to elevate the brand.

How has the partnership evolved over time?
The partnership always evolves, but Covid really showed us how Tilman operates. As an operator, not just a capital partner, he understood the challenges ahead of us. He understood that we should not strip and cut all our talent, but rather get on the offensive because, “When things are bad, they are going to get better again.” Tilman really pushed us into opening and signing five leases during the pandemic. He didn’t panic, he had a long-term view on the business. It was our first macro challenge, and he and his entire organization helped guide us through it.

What niche do you think Catch will bring to the area? 
I think that Catch tries to be that perfect balance of great food, great service, and great vibes. While many restaurants either have great food or provide a great experience, very few have both. We try to build a bridge between classic dining and vibe dining to create a perfect blend of the two, to appeal to whichever experience you are looking for, and to be perfect for any occasion.

How do you plan to have longevity with Catch?
We are crazy about the quality of our food and service and hyper-focused on being a restaurant for the local community of Miami Beach. We are dead set on making sure we get to know every single person who lives here, not just those who are here for the season or visiting for a weekend. We have invested in bringing in our most talented chefs and operators from all over the country to set the standard that will give us longevity. When the newness wears off, you must be able to stand behind a consistent, quality product in all seasons, and that is exactly what we plan on doing.

MARK BIRNBAUM
How do you target specific cities?
We go to the cities where our core customer lives or travels to. Miami is clearly that city. It’s as much data as it is a feeling. Once we identify the city, we do all we can to understand, from the locals’ perspective, what would be the most prime location for us to succeed in.

Why Miami? And what about Miami, makes it so magical? 
I see Miami today as what we once loved about NYC and LA all wrapped up in a swimsuit. The weather, the energy, the art, the shopping, the growth, and the excitement of everyone living in Miami now makes it magical.

What are some unique things the Miami location offers that no other
Catch has? 
Catch Miami Beach certainly marks the next generation of the Catch brand. From the level of design to the food and service, we have invested in making the newest Catch experience the most elevated it’s ever been — not to mention that it has a 10,000-square-foot rooftop in addition to our 10,000-square-foot ground floor. It’s a beauty of a venue!

Who is the target audience? 
Literally everyone living and visiting Miami today is our demographic! From the early crowd to the late, all love Catch around the country, and now, it’s in their own backyard of South Beach.

How will you cater to VIPs? 
We have a very sophisticated CRM system that helps us keep track of our customers to provide the best guest experience we can. Our incredible team in Miami, and in all markets, is experienced and able to execute our standards of what a Catch experience means to all.

Photo Credit: Nick Garcia