Edward Pitoniak is the founding Chief Executive Officer of VICI Properties, one of America’s largest real estate investment trusts and the first American REIT to go from IPO to S&P 500 inclusion in less than 5 years. Since its inception in late 2017, VICI has carried out over $30 billion of transactions. VICI is the largest real estate owner on the Las Vegas Strip, the most economically productive street in America, where VICI owns such iconic assets as The Venetian, Caesars Palace Las Vegas, MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay. VICI also has partnerships with Cabot Destinations, Canyon Ranch, Great Wolf Resorts and other leading experiential operators.
On this episode, Chris and Ed discuss:
- Maximizing the hospitality experience in Vegas
- The story of building VICI
- Investing in Canyon Ranch
- The Inevitable Gaming Future in Texas
Links:
VICI - https://viciproperties.com/
Ed on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-pitoniak-42941b/
Topics:
00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:34 - Ed’s career
00:05:29 - How career “obsession” has changed since the 1970’s
00:16:33 - The history of the ski industry
00:26:57 - Maximizing the 24-hour experience of Las Vegas
00:29:42 - Are people craving experience more than ever?
00:32:11 - The Las Vegas Sphere
00:39:08 - Risk-taking
00:47:47 - VICI
00:48:00 - What makes a great purchase for Vici?
00:51:56 - How did you achieve the highest gross margins of any publicly traded company?
00:54:43 - Who else does what you do?
00:56:07 - Project ShitCo
00:57:24 - Canyon Ranch
01:05:54 - The Fontainblue Las Vegas
01:08:06 - The impact of influencer marketing on in-person casino experiences
01:10:53 - The future of Texas & gaming
Support our Sponsors
Better Pitch: https://bit.ly/42d9L0I
Fort Capital: https://bit.ly/FortCapital
Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/
Chris on Social Media:
Twitter: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd
Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX
Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys
Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0
Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO