Tilman Fertitta

Tilman Fertitta is the owner of the Houston Rockets, and chairman, CEO, and owner of Fertitta Entertainment Inc., which owns both the restaurant giant Landry's and Golden Nugget Casinos. With an annual supply spend of $2 billion and over 55,000 employees, the firm is recognized as a world leader in the dining, hospitality, entertainment, and gaming industries. Fertitta Entertainment oversees more than 600 properties and owns more than 60 restaurant brands, hotels, and entertainment brands. His restaurants include well-known establishments, like McCormick & Schmick's, Chart House, Landry's Seafood, Rainforest Cafe, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company and Claim Jumper, and some of the world's premier fine-dining concepts such as Mastro's Steakhouse and Morton's the Steakhouse. Fertitta Entertainment owns numerous gaming, hospitality and entertainment venues, including the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino with locations in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Laughlin, Biloxi and Lake Charles. Fertitta's many personal honors include Entrepreneur of the Year from Ernst & Young, induction into the Texas Business Hall of Fame and serving as current chair of the University of Houston Board of Regents.

Fertitta has learned the ins and outs of the entertainment industry from working first-hand in local restaurants as a young man with his father. He dropped out of college to build life experience in the industry and is now worth nearly $3.5 billion. After making a name for himself in the restaurant, gaming, and hotel industries, he decided to round out his experience in the world of entertainment by entering into sports entertainment with his recent purchase of an NBA team– the Houston Rockets.

Fertitta also returned for season three of CNBC's "Billion Dollar Buyer." In each one-hour episode, Fertitta meets two new small business owners who need help taking their companies to the next level. He samples their goods, gets to know the owners and pulls in his own diverse, senior team to get a full read on whether or not the product is "Tilman" quality.

Fertitta sees this business venture as a way to give back. As stated in the premiere episode, "I need to give my guests the best of the best. For that, I go to America's small businesses. If they can meet my customers' needs I'd proudly place an order that will put them on the map." In the end, he decides whether or not to place a transformative purchase order with both, or neither companies.