Howard Hughes
The buyer who changed ownership
An industrialist and aviator whose casino purchases and landholdings gave him an extraordinary place in Southern Nevada’s development.
Before the Desert Inn
Hughes arrived with a reputation built in aviation, engineering and business. His H-1 aircraft set a speed record in 1935. UNLV’s engineering history and archival collections place those achievements alongside the later casino story, rather than reducing him to the familiar image of a recluse. [3] [4]
Buying into Las Vegas
Hughes moved to Las Vegas in 1966 and began acquiring casinos in 1967, starting with the Desert Inn. His purchases coincided with changes that made corporate casino ownership more practical. That timing mattered, although the transition involved legislators, regulators and other investors as well as Hughes. [1] [5]
Beyond the casino floor
His Southern Nevada holdings extended far beyond hotels. UNLV connects the later Summerlin development to land he owned and notes that its name came from his grandmother, Jean Amelia Summerlin. The region continued to feel the consequences of those holdings after his death in 1976. [1]
What survives
Photographs, artifacts and institutional records offer ways to investigate the Hughes years. His company’s support led to UNLV’s engineering college taking his name in 1984. Kerkorian’s oral-history catalog also points to Hughes as a figure another major investor respected and learned from. [4] [6]
Key dates
People in the same story
Kirk Kerkorian
Kerkorian’s oral-history catalog records his respect for Hughes. [6]
Read the profileSteve Wynn
The Desert Inn site later becomes part of Wynn’s resort story. UNLV · Lee Business School
Read the profileHank Greenspun
Follow the KLAS-TV transaction into the publisher’s business history. UNLV · Jewish Heritage Project
Read the profileMoe Dalitz
The Desert Inn sale links their casino histories. The Mob Museum
Read the profileIn the archive
35 matching entries in the saved collection.
Howard Hughes comes to Las Vegas
The arrival of a reclusive billionaire begins another shift in the city’s casino ownership and corporate culture.
After Hughes, before the Mirage: the overlooked casino era
Historian David G. Schwartz examines the two decades between Howard Hughes’s casino purchases and the Mirage. The period mixed older resort traditions with corporate ownership, expansions and a changing visual language of signs and buildings.
Hughes Buys Frontier Hotel Property
Indexed press reference · View the bibliography. The original report has not been independently read for this entry.
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Hughes Cleared to Buy Another Casino
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Hughes, Webb Win Approval to Extend Las Vegas Casino Holdings
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Casino Licenses For Del Webb, Howard Hughes
Indexed press reference · View the bibliography. The original report has not been independently read for this entry.
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Go deeper into the record.
Sources for this profile and starting points for further research. Access notes mark links we could not open directly during the October 3–4, 2026 checks. Historical accounts describe their own period; they do not necessarily describe current operations.
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Welcome Home Howard
Explore the Hughes hotels, business interests and archival collections.
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Corporate Las Vegas
A broad account of corporate investment and resort financing, rather than a contemporaneous report.
- 6
Kirk Kerkorian oral history, February 10, 1999
Interview by K. J. Evans for the Review-Journal First 100 project. The catalog describes audio and a transcript; availability is subject to archive access arrangements.