Landry's principal and chief executive officer Tilman Fertitta announced that he had furloughed 40,000 workers through his casino and restaurant properties, or around 70 percent of his staff, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Landry's is one of the biggest operators and owners of the restaurant concepts in the United States, with roughly 85 brands covering approximately 600 branches.
The restaurants at Fertitta's Landry Inc. include Del Frisco's, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, McCormick's and Schmick's, and Morton's Steakhouse.
The Texas tycoon is urging authorities to allow businesses to reopen in a few weeks at reduced capacity to prevent economic catastrophe.
He said in Bloomberg's interview that "what we're doing with the shutdown is fine, but we'll need to be around other people in a few weeks." Fertitta added that unless this happens, "you'll be moving through an economic disaster that will take us years to get out of."
None could have expected the catastrophic effects on the global economy that the coronavirus epidemic would bring. Any company which is exposed to entertainment and leisure is struggling.
Yet the use of financial leverage by Fertitta to develop his wealth - including buying a basketball team - now puts his corporate empire very vulnerable.
Comments by Fertitta confirm rumors that due to the pandemic the billionaire secretly closed a significant number of his assets. He did not reveal how many establishments were closed but said his holdings are operating at 30 percent to 40 percent of their total capacity.
Food establishments that remain operational produce around 4 to 5 percent of their normal sales by takeover and distribution said Fertitta. He told Bloomberg that on a regular basis his companies are losing millions of dollars. The billionaire said he plans to obtain access from his lenders to another $200 million.
Fertitta, which Forbes estimates to be valued at around $4.5 billion, is one of the people who need to get back to a small business as soon as possible after the global health disaster.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he wanted to start normalizing things during Easter as health officials continue to warn that the health impact of the virus on the population will continue to escalate in the near future.
Meanwhile, the market turmoil has reduced Fertitta's estimated net worth by about a third since last month, taking his measured wealth to around $3.2 billion Tuesday on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The loss was enough to knock him off the list of the 500 greatest fortunes in the world.
