If you’re a company that wants to prove that its stock is undervalued, you’ve got a definitive case when Carl Icahn buys into your company. And if you’re Caesars 
Entertainment and Icahn suddenly holds 10% of your stock, you’re officially in play. The news alone was enough to put a 6% spring in CZR shares’ step. It’s big enough news to overshadow the late-breaking revelation that fast-growing Eldorado Resorts had put in a rejected bid for Caesars. (Talk about a David-and-Goldiath scenario!) Icahn could start a proxy fight over the for-sale issue and has until March 1 to do so. In the case of Caesars, Icahn is a hired gun, brought in by dissident shareholders who wanted to force the issue of a sale. Opined Credit Suisse analyst Cameron McKnight, “Stalled talks with Landrys and Eldorado not a big surprise, as investors assumed there was an informal sale process. See merits in both combinations, and still believe CZR’s assets underappreciated.”
Tilman Fertitta tried to bigfoot the narrative with a me-too purchase of CZR shares. But his 4 million shares give him less than 1% of the company, not too impressive in light of Icahn’s commitment. Both Icahn and Fertitta step into a disordered Caesars, one whose ownership includes many creditors from the 2015 bankruptcy and that hasn’t been able to find a replacement for exiting CEO Mark Frissora. The disorder, however, might be nothing compared to the mess Tilman created when he took Landry’s private. Both Fertitta and Eldorado’s Gary Carano would have at least as much of ‘the vision thing’ as Frissora, but Caesars clearly doesn’t want to go that way.
Also, Fertitta is dogged by a number of problems on the home front. Landry’s is carrying a total of $20,385,854 in penalties for wage-and-hour violations (6), employment discrimination (3), workplace safety and health violations (8). To put is simply, he’s not 
in OSHA‘s good graces. Data security isn’t Landry’s strong suit, either, 14 Landry’s brands having been hacked over an 18-month period. JP Morgan Chase is suing Landry’s over that and seeks $20 million. In Boston, $1 million was paid by Landry’s to make a suit over alleged tip confiscation by Chart House management go away. Although Golden Nugget Lake Charles has been a money-spinner for Tilman, some contractors are still going unpaid. At The Post Oak hotel in Houston, Fertitta’s response to $50 million in cost overruns is apparently to leave some subcontractors out in the rain. This seems to be his standard operating procedure.
* Speaking of Caesars, Jan Jones Blackhurst will be back on the corporate jet soon, racking up mega frequent-flier miles now that a bill to legalize 32 casinos in Brazil and tax them at 10% has been introduced. Under the terms of the enabling legislation, casinos would be spread fairly evenly across the countryside, with Rio de Janeiro 
getting two and Sao Paolo snaring the brass ring with three. Gambling would be restricted to 10% of total square footage, and tax revenues would be equally divided between promoting tourism and increasing public safety. In addition to Caesars, which has been lobbying in Brazil for quite some time, Sheldon Adelson has been making his presence felt, dibbing both Rio and Sao Paolo, and committing at least $10 billion to at least one of them. The new government of President Jair Bolsonaro evidently supports casinos as an alternative to higher taxes.
* Mohegan Tribal Council Chairman Kevin Brown has suddenly resigned, no specific reason given. He didn’t even have the grace to give Wall Street a head’s up in an earnings call. He’s not going away, though: He will remain on the board of Mohegan 
Gaming & Entertainment, so he’ll still exercise some influence. Besides, the Mohegan are on such a roll that Brown clearly wasn’t pushed down from his vantage point. The tribe is already heavily invested and ready to break ground on Inspire in South Korea. As CFO Drew Kelley put it, “We visited a number of institutions in late December. Many of the Asian markets have dramatically improved since those December visits to Singapore and Hong Kong among other places so we are very positively inclined as to the process there.” MG&E also is expecting to continue vying for a Japan casino in Brown’s absence.
* Donald Trump‘s newest hotel brands, Scion and American Idea, have gone onto the shelf. Eric Trump and Donald Jr. used the excuses of “fake news” (otherwise known as a free press) and politics for the withdrawal. The reality is more mundane: They could find almost no takers for the chains-to-be. The Trump name had terrible brand equity long before their father took up his present job.
