What is Victor Drai's Net Worth?
Victor Drai is a nightclub mogul, entrepreneur, and film producer who has a net worth of $200 million. Victor Drai rose to prominence in the 1980s for producing the commercially successful films "The Woman in Red" and "Weekend at Bernie's." After leaving the film industry in 1993, he opened a number of high-profile restaurants and nightclubs in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Later, Drai opened a beach club and a nightclub in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with plans to expand to other cities around the world. His clubs are consistently among the highest-grossing clubs in the world.
Early Life
Victor Drai was born on July 25, 1947 in Casablanca, Morocco to Jewish parents. When he was 14, he dropped out of school to move with his family to Paris, France.
Career Beginnings
Drai began his career as an entrepreneur at the age of 16 when he launched an extermination company. When he was 19, he became a restaurateur in the south of France, and by the time he was 22 he had a line of ready-to-wear clothes called Vicadam.
(Photo by Bryan Steffy/Getty Images for Drai's Nightclub)
Film Producing
In 1982, Drai and his then-girlfriend Kelly LeBrock saw the 1976 French comedy film "Pardon Mon Affaire" while traveling in Paris. Two years later, Drai produced the American remake of the film, entitled "The Woman in Red." Written and directed by Gene Wilder and starring Wilder and LeBrock, the film was a substantial commercial success. It also launched the number-one hit Stevie Wonder song "I Just Called to Say I Love You," which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Due to the success of "The Woman in Red," Drai produced another remake of a French film, "The Man with One Red Shoe," in 1985. The same year, he produced the period horror film "The Bride," starring Sting and Jennifer Beals. However, neither of his 1985 films was commercially successful. Drai had better fortune with his next film as producer, the 1989 dark comedy "Weekend at Bernie's," starring Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman. He would later produce its 1993 sequel, "Weekend at Bernie's II." Meanwhile, Drai produced the 1992 Tom Selleck dramedy "Folks!," a box-office flop.
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Restaurants and Nightclubs
After leaving the film industry in 1993, Drai decided to enter the restaurant business. With French chef Claude Segal, he opened the restaurant Drai's on Restaurant Row in Los Angeles. Drai went on to open a second location on the Las Vegas Strip in 1997, and a couple of years after that opened an after-hours club to go along with the restaurant. In 2007, he took over La Bete at Wynn Las Vegas and rebranded it Tryst. The following year, Drai opened the XS nightclub at Encore Las Vegas. Both Tryst and XS were rated among the best nightclubs in the United States by Nightclub & Bar Magazine.
In March of 2010, Drai opened a rooftop restaurant with a pool and nightclub at the W Hotel in Hollywood. A few years later, he opened a steakhouse on Sunset Boulevard called Rare by Drai's. On Memorial Day weekend in 2014, Drai opened a 65,000-square-foot beach club and nightclub atop the new Cromwell Las Vegas hotel. He went on to open a beach club and a nightclub in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with plans to expand to other global cities. In 2017, Drai opened Drai's Vancouver, but the location was shut down the next year. Drai has been inducted into the Nightclub Hall of Fame.
Personal Life
From 1974 to 1980, Drai dated British actress Jacqueline Bisset, whom he had first met on a transatlantic flight from Los Angeles to Paris. Together, they began a business flipping mansions in Beverly Hills. Drai later married his first wife, actress and model Kelly LeBrock, in 1984; they divorced in 1986. He went on to wed actress Loryn Locklin in 1990, and to divorce her in 1998. Drai married his third wife, Yolanda Krupiarz, in 2016. From his marriages, he has three daughters and a son.
