Divorce Makes Elaine Wynn a Billionaire

We knew she was now a very independently wealthy woman, of course, but with this year's Forbes American billionaires list out yesterday, there's Steve Wynn's former wife chiming in at No. 382 with $1.05 billion on "hotels."

Steve sits on the same list at No. 205 with $1.9 billion (on "hotels, casinos"), which means that had he not divorced Elaine he'd be No. 111. (He was No. 141 in 2009.) That would have put him ahead of -- but instead he's behind -- Phil Ruffin (No. 182 with $2b on "casinos, real estate") and Donald Trump (No. 153 with $2.4b on "real estate"). Interestingly, despite shedding a billion to Elaine, Wynn's only down $400 million from last year. Why, exactly, is he so bitter at Obama?

Other notable Las Vegas-related folks:

* Sheldon Adelson ($14.7 billion) has rebounded to No. 13 thanks to Singapore and quipped: "I'm too old to be a kid, so call me the 'comeback adolescent.'" He was No. 26 last year.
* Frank Fertitta III (No. 365 with $1.1 billion) and Lorenzo Fertitta (No. 385 with $1 billion) just made the list pretty much on the value of the UFC alone, given that Station Casinos is in bankruptcy and all.
* Fontainebleau owner Carl Icahn is No. 24 with $11 billion on "leveraged buyouts"
* Kirk Kerkorian chimes in at No. 119 with $2.9 billion

Meanwhile, Wallet Pop has countered the Forbes list -- although Forbes is linking directly to this -- with its list of the 10 worst celebrity business owners. Heidi Fleiss is No. 7 and Paris Hilton is No. 1. Far less scientific, but certainly entertaining nonetheless.

The Show, Such As It Is, Is UP

This is what happens when we don't have a proper studio. The audio's a bit rough, to say the least. I should have done some extra tests to make sure it worked well, but I didn't. I tried to fix it, I'm not sure I was all that successful. BUT...the interviews with Fator (starts @ 26ish) and Brown (starts @ 1:01ish) are quite loud and clear. They're also really good interviews. The tourist tip, poll and trivia question can be read at TheStripPodcast.Com, too. It's a good show - there's even a bit of a surprise within the first minute - but I feel the need to offer all of this disclaiming because, unlike a certain other media outlet in town, I am embarrassed when my product is substandard. OK, with that, here's the weekly info: Click on the date below to listen or right-click and save to your computer. Or subscribe via iTunes here or via Zune here.

Feb. 15: The Impressionist Era Of Vegas...

with Terry Fator and Gordie Brown

Call it the impressionist period of Las Vegas. This month, three major impersonator acts open – or reopen. Danny Gans relocated to Encore, Terry Fator took Gans’ space at the Mirage and Gordie Brown, late of the Venetian, has returned to his old Golden Nugget haunts. Fator and Brown both join us this hour. Find out what Fator’s new Mirage-appropriate puppet will be and hear all about Brown’s early years as a celebrity stalker. Plus, Steve grills Brown on parts of his act he didn’t like.

In Banter: Behind the scenes at Cirque dance auditions, Oscar v Obama, Curtas v Encore, bye-bye La Cage and Heidi Fleiss, the Excalibur’s new deal.

Links:

Get tickets for Terry Fator at the Mirage here
Get tickets to Gordie Brown at the Golden Nugget here
Get tickets for Danny Gans at Wynn Las Vegas here
Terry Fator’s website is here
Gordie Brown’s website is here
Danny Gans’ website is here
Read Steve’s column on Danny Gans’ show here
Find out what happened to the LVRocks studio here
Read Steve’s posts on the Obama v Oscar row here and here
Hear the 2/12 Oscar Goodman press conference here
Read John Curtas’ blog review of Encore here
The Review-Journal’s report on the closure of La Cage is here
The Las Vegas Sun’s story on the rebranding of the Trop is here
If you care, Richard Abowitz discusses Heidi Fleiss’ no-go of a stud farm here
Read about the smoker to fell out of the Circus Circus window here
Our listeners’ new show Seattle Geekly, can be found here
Buy an Edirol that we use to record interviews here
See the list of companies likely to go under, with two Vegas-related entries, here

Fleiss to Friess on Spitz

There's always some Nevada connection, isn't there?

Newsweek called on me to chat about Eliot Spitzer with Heidi Fleiss, who runs a coin-op laundry in Pahrump, Nev., now, since I had the scoop on her big (now stalled) male-brothel plans back in 2005 for the magazine.

The piece is up now and here's the top of it:

‘Dude, These Are Men’

Former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss shares her views on Spitzer, prostitution and payment rates.

If anyone can offer any special insight into the Eliot Spitzer scandal, it's Heidi Fleiss. The former Hollywood madam—who once ran a call girl business that served clients like actor Charlie Sheen and who served 21 months in federal prison after being convicted of tax evasion—says she is not surprised by the New York governor's alleged link to a prostitution ring. "What's the mystery?" she asks. "If the guy wants to get laid, he wants to get laid."



Fleiss now lives in Pahrump, Nev., about 80 miles west of Las Vegas, where in 2005 she announced plans to open Nevada's first brothel for female customers. She's vague about why that hasn't happened, except to say that she's now in talks to go into business on that front with Dennis Hof, owner of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch near Reno, which was the focus of the HBO show "Cathouse." Meanwhile, Fleiss has opened a laundromat called Dirty Laundry in Pahrump. Last month she was charged with DUI and drug possession and is awaiting trial in that case. Fleiss spoke to NEWSWEEK about the Spitzer case. Excerpts: 


NEWSWEEK: Does it surprise you that someone as high-profile as the governor of New York would get in trouble like this?


Heidi Fleiss: Of course not. Dude, these are men. They think about sex 98 percent of the time.

When you were running your own call girl business, did it ever surprise you what kind of risks these men were taking?


No. Why would it surprise me?

Well, I'm asking. You knew who they were and…


I wasn't going to tell anything.

I know you weren't, but still, it's quite a risk. Did you ever wonder what was motivating these men?


Well, come on, the guy wants to get laid. If the guy wants to get laid, he wants to get laid. What's the mystery? It's an adult activity.

So if these charges are true, should this be the end of Gov. Spitzer's career?


Absolutely. You can't vigorously pursue prosecuting these prostitution rings—I mean, this guy made a point of it—and then do this. Get that guy out of office. He's a liar. He has no business being the voice of the people.

You don't have any sympathy for him?


Well, you know, who wants a governor who doesn't have sex? That would be creepy. But you can't be a hypocrite and a zealot. He's made prostitution out to be a horrible crime. Obviously it's not if he was doing it. It's just a business that needs to be regulated so the women don't have to always suffer.

Read the rest HERE, but here's a fun nugget that fell out of the final draft because it was a little too far afield of the Spitzer scandal:

I remember you had a lot of birds. How many do you have?

I have 24 now. Most of them have been abused. The birds are my life. They mean more to me than anything to me. Nothing else matters to me but my birds. They were born into a life that’s just not fair. I do the best I can. They’re not caged, they get the best food. I don’t know what I did in my life to deserve these beautiful creatures. They can live to be over 100. I say to my Gino, “You’re gonna miss me one day, Gino.” And I have my big homosexual bird, Reggie. I love him so much. He’s gay, though. There are girls around, but he just loves the boys. I’m at peace with myself when I’m around those birds.