the company known as harrah s entertainment before 2010 . for the company harrah s acquired in 2005 see caesars entertainment inc. caesars entertainment corporation formerly called harrah s inc. 1937 1995 harrah s entertainment 1995 2010 type public traded as nasdaq czr industry gambling hospitality founded october 29 1937 ; 78 years ago 1937 10 29 founder bill harrah headquarters paradise nevada united states key people mark frissora president & ceo gary loveman chairman products hotels casinos brands horseshoe gaming holding corporation world series of poker total rewards london clubs international revenue us 4.654 billion 2015 1 operating income us 573 million 2015 1 net income us 5.92 billion 2015 1 total assets us 12.195 billion 2015 1 owner apollo global management 18 % tpg capital 18 % paulson & co. 10 % 2 number of employees 33 000 2016 website caesars.com former headquarters and current corporate offices caesars entertainment corporation is an american gaming corporation based in paradise nevada that owns and operates over 50 casinos and hotels and seven golf courses under several brands . it is the fourth largest gaming company in the world 3 with annual revenues of 8.6 billion 2013 . caesars is a public company majority owned by a group of private equity firms led by apollo global management and tpg capital . caesars s largest operating unit filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in january 2015 . 4 5 contents 1 history 1.1 william f. harrah era 1937 1978 1.2 under holiday inn 1.3 the promus companies 1.4 renamed as harrah s entertainment inc. 1.5 purchase of caesars entertainment 1.6 company goes private 1.7 the linq 1.8 new las vegas arena 1.9 rename to caesars entertainment corp. 1.10 caesars acquisition company merger 1.11 casino unit files for chapter 11 bankruptcy 2 playtika company acquisition and sale 3 properties 4 references 5 further reading 6 external links history edit william f. harrah era 1937 1978 edit the company s background can be traced to october 29 1937 when bill harrah opened a small bingo parlor in reno nevada a predecessor to harrah s reno . 6 7 in 1955 he expanded to stateline nevada on the south shore of lake tahoe where he would eventually open harrah s lake tahoe . 8 harrah s inc. made its initial public offering in 1971 . 9 following that in 1972 it was listed on the american stock exchange and in 1973 harrah s became the first casino company listed on the new york stock exchange . bill harrah died on june 30 1978 of complications from aortic aneurysm and cardiac surgery at the mayo clinic in rochester minnesota . under holiday inn edit in february 1980 holiday inns acquired harrah s inc. for 300 million . liquidation of harrah s collection of almost 7 000 antique automobiles reportedly returned the full purchase price of the company to holiday inn . holiday inn at the time had interests in two casinos the under construction holiday inn marina casino in atlantic city and a 40 percent stake in the holiday casino adjacent to the holiday inn hotel on the las vegas strip . 7 in july 1987 bill s casino lake tahoe opened . 7 harrah s laughlin opened in august 1988 . 7 the promus companies edit the company now known as caesars entertainment was formed in 1990 as the promus companies . to effect the sale of the holiday inn hotel business to bass plc promus was created as a corporate spin off holding harrah s embassy suites homewood suites and hampton inn ; bass then acquired holiday corp. which retained only the holiday inn assets . 10 the next year the company s headquarters moved from reno to memphis tennessee 11 in april 1992 the holiday casino was rebranded as harrah s las vegas . 7 the late 1980s and early 1990s saw a rapid increase in gambling markets with the growth of indian gaming and legalization of riverboat casinos . in 1993 and 1994 the company opened harrah s joliet 12 harrah s vicksburg 13 harrah s tunica 14 harrah s black hawk 15 harrah s central city 15 harrah s shreveport 16 harrah s north kansas city 17 and harrah s ak chin . 18 renamed as harrah s entertainment inc. edit harrah s entertainment logo 1995 2010 in 1995 promus decided to spin off its non gaming hotel businesses in part because they had been undervalued by investors due to perception of the company as a risky gaming stock . 19 promus hotel corp. was established holding embassy suites hampton inn and homewood suites while the parent company holding 16 casinos was renamed as harrah s entertainment . 20 harrah s continued its expansion over the next ten years opening harrah s skagit valley 21 harrah s sky city 22 harrah s st. louis riverport 23 harrah s cherokee 24 harrah s prairie band 25 harrah s new orleans 26 and harrah s rincon 27 and acquiring the southern belle casino 28 showboat inc. 29 the rio all suite hotel and casino 30 players international 31 harveys casino resorts 32 louisiana downs 33 horseshoe gaming 34 and the world series of poker . 35 in 1997 harrah s launched its total gold loyalty program renamed as total rewards in 2000 36 developed at a cost of 20 million . 37 it was the first gaming company to offer a systemwide comps program allowing points earned at one casino to be redeemed for goods and services at any of the company s other casinos . 38 the system would be credited as a major driver of harrah s growth over the coming years . 39 harvard business school professor gary loveman joined harrah s as chief operating officer in 1998 40 and would go on to serve as chief executive officer from 2003 to 2015 . 39 41 in 1999 the company moved its headquarters from memphis to las vegas . 42 purchase of caesars entertainment edit harrah s made its largest single expansion in 2005 when it acquired caesars entertainment inc. for 10.4 billion . 43 negotiations were spurred on by news of a merger agreement between mgm mirage and mandalay resort group . 44 the two companies sold several properties ahead of the merger to assuage antitrust concerns including harrah s east chicago and harrah s tunica . 45 the acquisition increased harrah s portfolio to 40 casinos plus four cruise ship casinos . 46 the deal furthered harrah s goal of gaining a larger presence on the las vegas strip where caesars owned four casinos 47 and improved its ability to market to high rollers . 48 harrah s began to push for a larger international presence in 2005 announcing joint venture agreements to build casinos in spain slovenia and the bahamas and applying for a license to build a major resort in singapore 49 though none of these projects would come to fruition . harrah s also acquired london clubs international in 2006 50 and the macau orient golf club in 2007 . 51 from 2005 to 2010 the company consolidated control of a long stretch of the east side of the las vegas strip acquiring the bourbon street 52 imperial palace 53 barbary coast 54 55 and planet hollywood 56 casinos along with large tracts of land behind the strip properties . 57 58 in 2005 and 2006 harrah s closed its lake charles casino due to damage from hurricane rita sold the flamingo laughlin and sold grand casino gulfport . company goes private edit loveman at some point sought advice from private equity tycoon david bonderman about the possibility of spinning off ownership of harrah s real estate as a separate real estate investment trust reit hoping to attain the higher price to earnings ratios at which hotel companies traded compared to gaming companies . 59 in 2006 the discussions evolved toward the idea of a leveraged buyout of harrah s by bonderman s company tpg capital . 59 another private equity firm apollo global management approached loveman about a buyout and he encouraged them to collaborate with tpg . 59 by the end of the year an agreement was announced for the two companies to buy harrah s for 17.1 billion in cash plus 10.7 billion in assumed debt . 60 the transaction closed in january 2008 leaving harrah s with 25.1 billion in debt . 61 the linq edit it was widely announced in previous years that the company planned to implode properties and build new ones from scratch but after the market downturn the company conceded that it had little experience in building major resorts . instead it developed project linq in 2009 which calls for retaining and improving all existing buildings while adding a collection of about 20 restaurants and bars to be built along a winding corridor between the company s imperial palace o sheas and flamingo casinos on the east side of the strip . it is an attempt to create the kind of entertainment district that has developed organically in cities such as los angeles memphis and new orleans yet is lacking on the strip with its enclosed casino centric zones . 62 if this new zone is successful it will provide competition for the fremont street experience . new las vegas arena edit the anschutz entertainment group first tried to build an arena in las vegas in association with harrah s entertainment . in 2007 the joint venture announced they would build a 20 000 seat stadium behind the bally s and paris casino hotels . 63 caesars entertainment inc. had previously envisioned using the location to build a baseball park but the company s buyout by harrah s cancelled the plans . through the following year harrah s got uncertain on continuing with the project not knowing if aeg would split the costs and whether building a major league ready stadium without a guaranteed franchise to play on it would be feasible given the enduring financial crisis . 64 the original plans were to break ground on june 2008 and finish the arena in 2010 but by 2009 it was revealed the stalled project had not even done a traffic study despite being located near a busy intersection . 65 in 2010 the plans were changed to use an area behind the imperial palace . however given the financing would require a special taxation district opposition from clark county regarding using public money in the project stalled it even further . 66 aeg eventually backed out completely by 2012 once mgm resorts international came up with their own project using a terrain behind the new york new york and monte carlo resorts . this attracted aeg primarily for not relying on public funding . 67 the acquisition of planet hollywood provided harrah s with a contiguous 126 acre 51 ha property bordering the strip . the vacant lots behind the casinos had been slated for a sports arena large enough to hold a professional basketball or hockey team . the three casinos will have over 8 000 rooms which can be directly connected to the arena . it was announced in august 2010 that harrah s would run casinos in cincinnati ohio and cleveland ohio when they open in 2012 . rename to caesars entertainment corp. edit in november 2010 plans for an ipo were canceled but a planned name change from harrah s entertainment inc to caesars entertainment corp did go forward as planned and was made official november 23 2010 . this change was intended to capitalize on the international name recognition enjoyed on the caesars name brand . the harrah s brand would remain one of the company s three primary casino brands . 68 on february 8 2012 an initial public offering took place with the common stock trading on the nasdaq under the symbol czr . 69 caesars acquisition company merger edit