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Howard Hughes: Las Vegas
built 234 days ago
In 1966 Howard Hughes moved to Las Vegas. By this time his decent into mental illness, reclusiveness, and drug addiction was well underway. When the Desert Inn threatened to evict him, he bought the hotel. Hughes ... became the owner of Castaways, New Frontier, Landmark, Sands and Silver Slipper. Hughes' investments in Las Vegas is credited with moving control and ownership of hotels and casinos in Las Vegas from mobsters to corporate entities.
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Hughes' considerable business holdings were overseen by a small panel sometimes dubbed "The Mormon Mafia" due to the many Latter-day Saints in the group. While running day-to-day business operations, they ... took great pains to follow Hughes' every bizarre whim. For example, Hughes took a liking to Baskin Robbins' banana-nut ice cream, and his aides were horror-stricken when they learned that Baskin-Robbins had eliminated the flavor. They made a special order of 350 gallons—the smallest amount the company could provide for a special order—and had it shipped from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. A few days after the order arrived, Hughes announced he'd tired of banana-nut and only wanted vanilla ice cream. For years afterwards, Hughes' aides gave free gallons of banana-nut ice cream to their friends and family.
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Hughes' considerable business holdings were overseen by a small panel unofficially dubbed "The Mormon Mafia" on account of the many Latter-day Saints on the committee. In addition to supervising day-to-day business operations and Hughes' health, they ... went to great pains to satisfy Hughes' every whim. Hughes once became fond of Baskin Robbins' banana-nut ice cream, and his aides sought to secure a bulk shipment for him – only to discover that Baskin-Robbins had discontinued the flavor. They put in a request for the smallest amount the company could provide for a special order, 350 gallons, and had it shipped from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. A few days after the order arrived, Hughes announced he was tired of banana-nut and wanted only vanilla ice cream. The Desert Inn ended up distributing free banana-nut ice cream to casino customers for a year, until the 350 gallons were gone.
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Hughes was perhaps Las Vegas' first true casino mogul. His main legacy to Las Vegas is that, by buying six major Strip casinos in the late 1960s, he removed the perceived taint of organized crime on casino gambling in the national marketplace. His actions triggered a major trend, still evident today, whereby public companies bought, held interests in or granted loans to most of Nevada's largest casinos. That involvement vastly increased the investment capital available from Wall Street, and led to the multibillion-dollar expansion of the Las Vegas Strip that started in the late 1980s.
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By the mid-1950s, Hughes' dislike of being a public figure began to severely affect his life. Though he married actress Jean Peters in 1957, he began to avoid public appearances. He traveled for a bit, then in 1966 he moved to Las Vegas, where he holed himself up in the Desert Inn Hotel. When the hotel threatened to evict him, he purchased the hotel. He ... bought several other hotels and property in Las Vegas. For the next several years, hardly a single person saw Hughes.
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During his last years, Hughes became a recluse and rumors circulated about his mental health. In 1971 Hughes was the subject of one of the greatest literary hoaxes in history. The publishing firm McGraw-Hill was tricked into believing that an autobiography of Hughes they planned to publish was authentic and actually written by Hughes. The firm gave author Clifford Irving, who claimed to be Hughes’s contact and ghostwriter, a $750,000 advance to be delivered to Hughes. However, Hughes came out of seclusion and denied writing the book or knowing Irving. The book was discovered to be a fake, and Irving and his wife later pleaded guilty to criminal charges in connection with the incident.
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