MGM Mirage Treasure Island Deal: Ruffin Sold High and Bought Low

(MoneyWatch)  Phil Ruffin, the new owner of MGM Mirage Treasure Island, bought the casino resort for $775 million, approximately $500 million in cash and $275 million in secured notes. The Wichita billionaire is known for investing in gambling enterprises, including Kansas dog racing tracks he's trying to convert to "racinos," or dog racing with slot machines. He's also Donald Trump's friend and business partner, having sold him 3.5 acres of property to build the Trump International Hotel & Tower. He's also a part-owner in the project.

In 1998, Ruffin paid $167 million for the aging New Frontier casino and sold it 9 years later to the Elad Group for $1.24 billion at what could be termed the height of the market. Unfortunately, the Elad Group had trouble finding loans and postponed their $5.7 billion casino project.

Ruffin had no such problems. Armed with what every developer wants -- cash -- Ruffin was in front of a Las Vegas buffet of casino resorts, the reason why many believe he purchased the MGM Mirage Treasure Island for a song, saying the true price was closer to $1 billion. But MGM Mirage, hungry for cash and its current $9.1 billion CityCenter development needing a liquidity infusion to survive, was willing to deal. Now analysts say the sale should ease financial risk for the project and loosen credit.

According to reports, Ruffin dropped out of college in 1959 to go into the convenience store business and by 1993, owned 65 in four states. By 2007, Ruffin told American Executive his holdings included commercial real estate, hotels, oil wells and a hand truck company. Ruffin also likes to gamble in real life and is known as an avid poker player, often participating in charity tournaments. In January, he took another gamble -- the 73-year-old married the 2001 Miss Ukraine, Oleksandra Nikolayenko, at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach.