Station Casinos has marked its 50th anniversary by awarding more than $70 million in company stock to almost 10,000 full- and part-time employees, in one of the largest staff equity giveaways by a Las Vegas casino operator.
At a surprise event last Wednesday, Frank Fertitta III, chairman and chief executive of parent company Red Rock Resorts, and vice chairman Lorenzo Fertitta told a ballroom of workers that anyone employed as of that date would receive $1,000 in Red Rock Resorts Class A stock for every year of service. Eligible employees began claiming their shares on Monday.
Lorenzo Fertitta framed the award as a transfer of ownership rather than a one-off bonus. «When you walk out of here today, we want you to walk out differently than you walked in—not just as someone who works at Station Casinos, but as someone who owns a piece of it,» he said. «Every guest you take care of, every shift you show up for—this is now your company too.»
The scale of the payout reflects the tenure of a workforce that has stayed with the business through decades of expansion. Ida Johnson, who joined the company in 1977, received $49,000 in stock. Six other employees who started at Bingo Palace in the 1970s and remain with the company each received more than $45,000 in equity.
Station Casinos traces its origins to 1959, when founder Frank Fertitta Jr. moved from Galveston, Texas, to Las Vegas. He opened his own casino in 1976, a 5,000-square-foot property called simply «The Casino», with 100 slot machines, six table games and 90 employees, Frank Fertitta III said at the event. It became Bingo Palace a year later and was renamed Palace Station in 1984.
The company now owns and operates 14 properties across the Las Vegas Valley, including Red Rock Casino Resort Spa, Green Valley Ranch Resort Spa Casino and Durango Casino & Resort, alongside stakes in several smaller venues. It remains a family-controlled business, with the Fertitta family holding senior executive roles.
Frank Fertitta III linked the award to the company's founding principles. «Our father founded this company on a few simple principles: serve the local community, deliver great value, and most importantly, take care of our team members,» he said. «This award reflects those values and recognizes the people who have brought them to life every day for the past 50 years.»
He closed the ceremony by thanking employees for their role in the company's longevity. «Thank you for making the last 50 years possible, and we look forward to what we can accomplish together over the next 50 years,» he said. «Thank you for taking care of one another. Thank you for taking care of our guests and thank you for making Station Casinos the local favorite.»
The move places Station Casinos among a small group of large employers that have extended equity awards beyond senior management. Bank of America handed nearly its entire global workforce a $1 billion restricted-stock pool, while Apple gave most of its employees a $2,500 stock bonus after the 2017 tax overhaul. Samsung began awarding shares worth up to $20,000 to staff outside the C-suite from this autumn, and the family owner of Louisiana manufacturer Fibrebond Corp. carved out a $240 million bonus pool—averaging $443,000 a worker—for employees when the company was sold last year.
For Station Casinos, the stock award is also a retention tool in a labour market where casino operators compete for experienced staff. By tying the payout to years of service, the company rewards long-tenured employees most heavily while giving newer hires a stake in the business. The shares vest as Class A stock in Red Rock Resorts, the listed entity that controls the operating business.