Derek Stevens

Stevens was born on September 17, 1967, in Detroit, Michigan.[1] His father John Stevens was an architect,[2] and his mother, Betty,[3] was a high school teacher who had studied math and physics.[1] His grandfather, Rene DeSeranno,[4] started Cold Heading Company, an auto-parts manufacturer, in Warren, Michigan in 1952.[5][6] He has a younger brother, Greg Stevens. The family lived in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and Stevens attended Grosse Pointe South High School, where he played baseball and some football.[7][3]

In 1990, Stevens graduated from University of Michigan, located in the city of Ann Arbor.[5][8] Four years later, he earned a Master of Business Administration degree in finance, from Wayne State University in Detroit.[1][9] He initially studied to be an engineer, but decided he wanted to be in business instead, after spending time in Ann Arbor.[8]

Stevens' first job was working for three years as a valet along the Detroit River.[3] He visited Las Vegas for the first time in the late 1980s, and became enamored with its various attractions. He made frequent visits from then on, often to attend sporting events,[2][1][10] as well as conventions.[8] Stevens took over Cold Heading Company in 1993 or 1994, after the CEO stepped down. Stevens initially took the job on a temporary basis, but would remain in the position for decades.[9][4][2] Cold Heading manufactures nuts and bolts for auto companies.[7] The company added a second plant, in Indiana, in 1998, and later expanded operations to Ohio.[11][12] It also purchased a manufacturer of fasteners in 1999.[6]

During the 1990s, Stevens began investing in gaming companies, buying stock in International Game Technology and the Rio hotel-casino, both in Las Vegas. In the 2000s, Stevens became a stockholder in Riviera Holdings, which owned the Riviera resort on the Las Vegas Strip.[2][1][13] Stevens, through his company Desert Rock Enterprises, owned more than 1 million shares in the Strip resort.[14][15][16] He invested in Las Vegas because Nevada has no state income tax.[7][17]

Stevens, a sports fan,[18] purchased the Las Vegas 51s baseball team in 2008.[2][19][20][21] He owned it through Stevens Baseball Group, of which he was the chief executive.[4][22] He sold the team four years later to a group that included Howard Hughes Corporation.[2][23]

Although downtown Las Vegas is overshadowed by the Las Vegas Strip, Stevens believed that downtown hotel-casinos presented less expensive opportunities for a hotel revival of the area. In addition, Stevens did not have adequate financing to fully enter the Las Vegas Strip market.[7][3] Stevens' brother Greg is an engineer who maintains a low-profile, in contrast to Derek's personality. The two have partnered on several projects,[2][1] which helped revitalize the Fremont Street area of downtown Las Vegas.[24] Derek Stevens serves as the public face for their projects.[3] In 2008, they became co-owners in the Golden Gate Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas.[24][25][26] It took Stevens 18 months to receive a gaming license, and the Great Recession occurred as the brothers entered the gaming industry, although this would provide further opportunities for them because of reduced land values.[18][17] The Riviera filed for bankruptcy in 2010, and Stevens became one of its owners upon reorganization of the resort.[2][9][13] He later sold his interest to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.[27]

In 2011, the Stevens brothers purchased the Fitzgeralds hotel-casino in downtown Las Vegas and rebranded it a year later as The D Las Vegas,[24][28][29] a reference to Derek's nickname "D".[3][30] In 2013, he purchased the former Clark County Courthouse nearby,[31][32] and demolished it to build the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, which opened a year later.[33][34][35] In 2014, Stevens became the first Las Vegas hotel-casino owner to accept bitcoin, although the currency is only used for non-gaming purchases.[36][37]

In 2015, the Stevens brothers purchased the Las Vegas Club in downtown and eventually announced plans to build a new resort in its place. In 2016, they purchased the adjacent Mermaids Casino and Glitter Gulch strip club,[38] both of which were demolished along with the Las Vegas Club. The Stevens had the Circa Resort & Casino built on the property, opening it in late 2020.[1][39][40] Circa was the biggest project of Stevens' career.[17] It was the first new hotel-casino to be built in the downtown area since The D, which originally opened in 1980.[2] Stevens also launched Circa Sports, a chain of local sportsbooks,[41][42] which expanded to Colorado in 2020.[2]

Like casino operators in decades prior, Stevens is known for walking the casino floors at his properties and interacting with customers, a rarity compared to his corporate-owned rivals.[1][2][24][27] He is also known for placing high bets on sports games, and for his marketing promotions.[1][2][3][43][44][45] In 2020, he gave away 1,700 free airplane tickets to Las Vegas to help the city's economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.[46]

As of 2020, Stevens remains as CEO of Cold Heading Company, in addition to overseeing his casinos.[2] He has no interest in entering the Detroit casino market, stating that the customer demographic is too different compared to Las Vegas.[7] Michigan's income tax is another factor for not competing there.[3]

Stevens is married to Nicole Parthum,[47] who he met during first grade. In the 2010s, the couple lived in Birmingham, Michigan, but made frequent visits to Las Vegas.[28][48][49]

Stevens has made frequent financial contributions to both Democratic and Republican candidates. He contributed $5,000 to Democrat Steve Sisolak and $10,000 to Republican Adam Laxalt during their 2018 bids for Nevada governor. Two years later, Stevens contributed an additional $10,000 to Governor Sisolak.[50] In 2021, Stevens was seen as a potential Republican contender to face off against Sisolak in the 2022 Nevada gubernatorial election.[51][52]

• Official Twitter account