What is Alex Meruelo's Net Worth?
Alex Meruelo is a Cuban American businessman who has a net worth of $2 billion. Alex Meruelo was born in New York City, New York. His parents both fled Cuba with nothing after Castro came to power. The family eventually moved to Los Angeles, California and graduated from California State University, Long Beach. Meruelo started out in his father's tuxedo business. He opened his first pizza restaurant which would become part of the chain La Pizza Loca Southern California in 1985. He actually took over a failed pizza place and within five years had grown to 25 locations and $10 million in annual revenue. Alex Meruelo then founded the Meruelo Group which is a real estate development and construction firm.
The group owns the TV station KWHY-TV, the Grand Sierra Resort (a casino in Reno), Select Electric Inc, Neal Electric Corp, Doty Bros, a bank in Orange County, a maker of prepackaged sushi, and two LA radio stations including Power 106 (LA's #1 station) and KDAY (LA's #3 station). In 2017 the group purchased the SLS Las Vegas which was formerly known as the Sahara Hotel and Casino. He had to put down $100 million to acquire the SLS. His goal is to transform the SLS into a lationo-friendly casino which also appeals to the general public. He brilliantly uses his various media assets to promote one-another. For example, he runs contests on Power 106 that sends listeners to his SLS casino in Vegas. At one point he attempted to buy the NBA's Atlanta Hawks. Alex Meruelo and his wife currently live in Reno, Nevada.