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Friday, Jan. 17, 2025 | 12:49 p.m.<\/p>\n
Billionaire Phil Ruffin is looking to sell Circus Circus and its prime real estate on the north end of the Las Vegas Strip, he told\u00a0Forbes<\/a>\u00a0in an interview published today.<\/p>\n Ruffin bought the property for $825 million<\/a> in late 2019, just over $1 billion in today\u2019s money, and told the magazine it\u2019s now worth $5 billion. He added that \u201cthere is interest\u201d in the property<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the best piece of land on the West Coast,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s got the highway, it’s got the Sahara, it’s got 2,000 feet on the Strip, and it’s the last Strip property. And 102 acres is just a massive amount of land \u2014 you can almost build a city on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Ruffin told Forbes he is looking to buy another property on the Strip once he sells Circus Circus but is open to ventures outside Nevada.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhy do you think I bought Circus Circus? For the 102 acres,\u201d he told the magazine. \u201cThat\u2019s the land play. Remember what I did at the Frontier, how the value of the land went crazy \u2014 here it\u2019s going crazier.\u201d<\/p>\n Ruffin bought the Frontier in 1998 for $167 million. A decade later, he sold it for about $2.1 billion, a nearly eleven-fold increase in value after adjusting for inflation. He also owns Treasure Island, which he bought in 2009 for $775 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n The billionaire is close friends with President-elect Donald Trump, donating millions to his presidential campaigns and co-owning Trump Tower Las Vegas with him.<\/p>\n Speaking to Forbes, Ruffin opined up on his conversations with the incoming president about foreign and domestic policy.<\/p>\n Ruffin said Trump\u2019s immigration policy would \u201cconcentrate on criminals.\u201d CNN reported today that the president-elect is looking to quickly kick off United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps in major metro areas and declare a national emergency.<\/p>\n Trump also said earlier this month he was open to using military and economic means to take back the Panama Canal, which the United States gave to Panama in 1999.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did agree that something needs to be done with the Panama Canal,\u201d Ruffin told Forbes. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine us giving away that canal for $1, as President Carter did. It is critical.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n