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MGM & Caesars Are Leaving Wall Street — The New Era of Las Vegas + Rio's Questionable Buffet!

Jun 3, 2026

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I went on vacation and they sold Las Vegas. Live from Montenegro this week because the news would not wait — both of the Strip's biggest operators are heading toward going private.

Barry Diller's People Inc. (the former IAC) has put a non-binding, all-cash offer on the table to buy the 73.9% of MGM Resorts it doesn't already own at $48.30/share — an ~$18 billion deal — and take the company private. Pair that with the Caesars / Fertitta Entertainment take-private we covered last week, and Las Vegas may be entering a brand-new era owned by the billionaire class instead of Wall Street. Is that good or bad for the guest experience? I make the case.

Plus: the Cromwell has officially reopened as the Vanderpump Hotel (new lampshades, the Gigolo cocktail garden, and why it's still the best Caesars property to base yourself at), the Rio's new $27 buffet that's drawing comparisons to a highway motel breakfast, and a little Star Trek: The Experience nostalgia.

Episode Guide:

  • 0:00 They sold Vegas while I was gone (live from Montenegro)
  • 0:25 Cromwell is officially the Vanderpump Hotel
  • 1:44 Inside Vanderpump: the Gigolo bar & saved Cromwell chairs
  • 2:50 Best Caesars property to base at — comps, parking, rates
  • 3:30 The "headless man" at Park MGM
  • 3:47 Star Trek: The Experience & the onion ring tower mystery
  • 4:31 Rio's new buffet: the Hyatt Globalist breakfast backstory
  • 5:24 $27 for THIS? Rio vs. the Carnival World Buffet
  • 6:46 Hyatt keeps letting standards slip 7:08 The big one: two Strip giants going private
  • 7:42 Barry Diller's People Inc. bids $48.30/share for MGM
  • 8:50 Hornbuckle stays — what the deal needs to close
  • 9:44 Why Diller wants MGM
  • 10:28 Big picture: the billionaire era of the Strip
  • 12:16 "Best thing to happen to Vegas"? The guest-experience case
  • 13:29 Wall Street, Macau & MGM's crown-jewel assets
  • 14:34 A new era for Vegas — could the land come back?

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