FERTITTA FAMILY PATRIARCH DIES: FRANK FERTITTA, JR. PASSES AWAY AT 70

Posted on | August 21, 2009 | 1 Comment

From left are Frank Fertitta III, Frank Fertitta, Jr., and Lorenzo Fertitta

By: Rich Bergeron

Frank Fertitta, Jr. died suddenly today after a heart surgery procedure at a California hospital. A Las Vegas News Station Broke the story. Fertitta, who is the founder of the now bankrupt Station Casinos spent much of his later years running Fertitta Enterprises, which is at the center of the Xyience, Incorporated bankruptcy scandal. All the glowing obituaries and tributes to this powerful Vegas tycoon will likely forget to mention the man’s roots and what kind of “family” he really came from. I put together a comprehensive piece over at Bleacher Report not too long ago that sheds a great deal of light on the shady side of the Fertitta clan.

I’m not one to dance on anyone’s grave, and my condolences go out to the family, but at the same time I am compelled to make sure the full true story emerges. Frank Junior spent a great deal of his final days trying to make up for his transgressions according to inside sources who knew him. He spent a lot of time in church and gave a great deal to charitable efforts. The most dramatic mystery behind the legendary Frank Fertitta, Jr. was the question of what involvement, if any, he may have had in the death of his former business partner Carl Thomas. Read the Bleacher report story for more on that.

Whatever is said about this man in death, he lived an intriguing life that is worth talking about and looking back on, but only if you embrace the truth and not the fluff pieces that are sure to follow in high praise of a pauper turned prince of a gaming empire.

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