Tilman Fertitta is getting a reality show.
Fertitta, chairman, CEO and sole shareholder of Landry’s, Inc.—which owns five Golden Nugget casinos among more than 500 leading restaurant, hotel and entertainment properties—will star on the new CBNC prime-time series Billion Dollar Buyer, to premier March 22.
Each hour-long episode of the show will feature Fertitta spending time with two small business owners—interviewing them, sampling their goods—after which he will decide to give one or both a purchase order, and thus part of Landry’s $2 billion a year in supply expenditures. In addition to casinos, Landry’s owns Morton’s the Steakhouse, Rainforest Café, Bubba Gump Shrimp and other national chains.
“We know there’s an appetite for high-quality programming that dives into the world of small business and celebrates the American Dream,” said Jim Ackerman, executive vice president of Primetime Alternative, CNBC, according to the Biloxi Sun Herald. “With the addition of Billion Dollar Buyer to our already robust lineup, CNBC continues to be the home for programs that celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit.”
