Who Is Phil Ruffin’s Wife? His Net Worth, Wedding, Donald Trump, Facts

Phil-Ruffin
Published Date: 04 Aug, 2020 Updated date: 04 Aug, 2020 By Phil

Among the aspiring entrepreneurs and business tycoons, Phil Ruffin is a popular name. The Texas-born businessman owns the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino and Circus Circus Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Despite the string of failed marriages, Phil Ruffin has been able to conquer the business world with his hard work and dedication. He owns a number of enterprises including hotels, casinos, greyhound racing tracks, oil production, convenience stores, real estate, and the world’s largest manufacturer of hand trucks.

Phil Ruffin Bio & Family; Age, Facts, Ethnicity, Birthday

The American business conglomerate celebrates his birthday on 14 March. He is 85-year-old, born in 1935 in Potter County, Texas. Talking about his family, his father Roy J. Ruffin was a grocery store owner and his mother’s role as a homemaker. The business tycoon is of Lebanese descent and his family’s original surname is Rufan. Besides them, his other family member includes of his four siblings named Elaine Ruffin Nemer, Roy Ruffin Jr., Pat Ruffin, and Pam Ruffin.

Phil went to Wichita North High School to complete his graduation in 1953. Over there, he was a wrestling champion. Later, the businessman went to Wichita State University for three years, but never got any academic certification.

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Phil’s Business Ventures: Treasure Island Hotel and Casino, Circus Circus

Initially, Phil purchased the Crystal Palace resort in the Bahamas for &80 million. He later sold the resort and bagged $147 million to his name. Two year later, he bought the New Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, only to later sell it in 2007 for $1.2 billion.

The next casino on Phil’s sight was Treasure Island Hotel and Casino that he bought from MGM Mirage for $775 million in 2009.  The casino with 2,664 rooms and 220 suites hosts among the regular table games, alsoVIP rooms and earns Phil nearly $400 million in revenue every year. This is the casino that took him from a multi-millionaire to a multi-billionaire.

This is indeed a great success story, but can you imagine what would happen if Phil invested as “little” as $10 million in online casinos around the same time at 2009? It is already known today that income from different online blackjack games across the world, can easily surpass the land based blackjack revenues and income. The best example for that of course, is now. The pandemic literally destroyed casinos like the one Phil owns and has made online gambling even stronger. Could he ride all the way to at least $10 billion if he invested also in online casinos? We’ll probably never know.

Furthermore, the 85-year-old businessman purchased the Circus Circus Hotel and Casino from MGM Resorts International for $825 million in December 2019.

His Relationship With Donald Trump, Other Business Works

Phil is a longtime friend and the business partner of the U.S. President, Donald Trump. Phil and Trump first met when Phil traveled to Trump Towers to talk about adding a Trump-branded hotel to his Treasure Island casino on the Las Vegas Strip in the early 2000s.

The Trump International Tower was built immediately adjacent to the Fashion Show Mall and it broke ground in July 2005. The tower opened in March 2008. Besides the business ventures, Trump has been a good friend of Phil as he was his best man at Phil’s third wedding in 2008. On the other hand, Phil was a huge supporter of Trump during his presidential campaign. Meahwhile, in August 2016, Trump borrowed his jet to visit Enrique Peña Nieto, the then-president of Mexico at the time.

Other than that, Phil’s Hotel Group owns and operates 13 major hotels. He also owns various commercial real estate holdings in Kansas and in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area. Likewise, he also owns and operates Harper Trucks, the world’s largest manufacturer of hand trucks.

How Much Net Worth Does Phil Ruffin Have?

The 85-year-old has garnered a mammoth net worth of $2.3 billion. While his career into business that includes casinos, hotels, real estate, oil production and racing tracts, his compassion and utmost dedication is never less even at this age.

The business mogul back in 2019 became the 838thrichest person across the globe with a net worth of $3.1 billion as mentioned by Forbes.

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Married Life; Divorced Twice

Well, Phil is a twice divorced man. Firstly, he married Mary Louise Miller and they divorced later. Afterward, he married Lynne Ruffin and they had three children; a daughter named Michelle Ruffin-Stein and two sons; Chris Ruffin and Phil Ruffin Jr. His daughter Michelle runs the Wichita Marriott owned by him. Besides, she served as a member of Wichita Habitat for Humanity’s 2015 Board of Directors.

Meanwhile, his son Chris runs a luxurous hotel, Hyatt Regency Wichita; and his other son Phil Ruffin Jr. runs Harper Trucks Inc. a hand truck manufacturer. Phil and Lynne divorced later and she remarried R.T. Smith.

Who Is His Wife Now?

The business tycoon is currently married to former Miss Ukraine Oleksandra Nikolayenk, who is nearly 50 years his junior. Phil married Oleksandra at the age of 72 on 6 January 2008. The lavish wedding ceremony was held at Mar-a-Lago mansion at Palm Beach in Florida, owned by Donald Trump.

Oleksandra, aged 39 was born and raised in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. She is the winner of 13 beauty contests and holds 16 titles in total. The couple shares two children; a son named Richard William Ruffin (born April 2010) and a daughter Malena (born 2013).

Some Interesting Facts About Phil Ruffin

  • Phil appeared on the seventh season of GSN cash game poker show High Stakes Poker in 2011.
  • A resident of Wichita, Kansas, Ruffin now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.
  • The attendees of Phil and Oleksandra’s wedding included singers, Celine Dion and Justin Timberlake.
  • His ex-wife Lynne died at the age of 75 on 4 November 2011.
Category: Biography