One Vegas Entrepreneur Bucking the Economic Trend
December 16, 2010
One Vegas entrepreneur bucking the economic trend
Stephen Siegel has never done an on-camera interview until now. He is the man behind more than a dozen properties that bear his name, the Artisan, and the recently opened Rumor hotel. He says his office is where it all happens.
“I think, I imagine. I think I like to put things together and be able to see things before they’re there. This is where I create.”
All that creativity has landed Siegel on top of his own multimillion dollar empire, despite the recession. Not bad for a former fast food worker and middle school dropout.
“I actually didn’t go to high school. I stopped going to school in the ninth grade, which is junior high.”
From there, Siegel says he found his knack. It’s said one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
“I’d buy a car, fix it up, sell cars to friends; buy another, fixed it up, sold that. [I] went into [the] children’s manufacturing business.”
From his first fixer-upper, Siegel developed an eye for undervalued properties. He now has 16 flexible stay apartment complexes, called the Siegel Suites.
“I think it’s about seeing something before it’s there. Someone once told me to do the impossible, you have to see the invisible.”
His latest creation is the Rumor Boutique Hotel.
“Steve definitely has a knack for finding hidden treasures,” says Siegel’s director of business affairs, Michael Crandall. “What other people look at as possibly garbage or no good, he sees opportunity in. That’s something he’s done his whole life.”
The Siegel team has never had a business plan, but they do know where they like to do business.
“We love Las Vegas,” said Siegel. “I think it’s the best place in the world to do business. I’ve done business all over. I love Las Vegas and I’m here to stay and want to do bigger things.”
Hetty Chang: Now that you’re looking around, thinking about all the things you’ve accomplished, what’s going through your mind?
“I want more!”
