Tony Cornero
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Tony Cornero ( - July 31, 1955) was a bootlegger and a casino developer and owner. He is most famous for his Stardust Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.
[edit] Bootlegging
Cornero started off smuggling whiskey in from Canada and Mexico and selling it in Southern California during Prohibition. He used to unload the boats beyond the three-mile limit, then he transferred the liquor onto his speedboats and into the Southern Californian beaches. By the time he was 25 he had made $1 million doing this. Eventually he got caught and served time in jail, being released in 1930.
[edit] Las Vegas
During his time in jail, he had heard stories about what was going on in Las Vegas, Nevada. Cornero had met two guys in jail who said they were well connected in Las Vegas politics. Their plan was to get Block 16 (where the liquor and girls could be found) closed down and get all the girls to Cornero's place.
He took an option on a 30-acre piece of land outside Las Vegas city limits. On this land he and his brothers built the Meadows Casino. It was a first-class casino, with a great restaurant and a wonderful bar. The casino got customers from everywhere to see the shows and gamble. The Cornero brothers sold the casino two months later and only three months later the hotel portion of it was destroyed in a fire.
[edit] Gambling ships
After the Meadows, Cornero got involved in luxury gambling ships. The wealthy of Los Angeles would get the water taxis out to the ships to enjoy the gambling, shows and restaurants. Cornero had two ships, the SS Rex and the SS Tango. The ships were anchored outside the 'three mile limit' off Santa Monica and Long Beach.
The state of California found a way around the 'three mile limit'. The state refigured the starting point off the coastline and said the ships were in Californian waters and therefore, illegal. Police got aboard Coast Guard boats and made there way to the ships to close them down and arrest Cornero. When they got to them, Cornero would not allow them on board. He was able to keep them from boarding for three days before giving up and being arrested. See also History of Santa Monica, California#1930s.
The SS Rex ended up serving in World War II. He apparently lost the SS Tango in a poker game.
[edit] Back to Vegas
Cornero contacted his friend, Orlando Silvagni, who was the owner of the Apache Hotel in Las Vegas. Cornero and his friend made a deal that Cornero would lease the Apache Casino and rename it the SS Rex. The Las Vegas Council remembered Cornero and had seen what had happened in California and voted 'no' but one councilman changed his vote, allowing his gambling license. Eventually, his gambling license was lifted, and the SS Rex closed. Tony and his wife packed up and moved back to Beverly Hills. He had plans to invest in Baja California. But one day when Cornero answered the door to his house, he was shot four times in the stomach.
[edit] The Stardust
As soon as Cornero had recovered from the gunshots, he went back to Vegas. He bought a 40-acre piece of land on the Las Vegas Strip. He filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission because he wantes to sell stock in the hotel he will build. He bought 65,000 shares for 10 cents, he then owned 51% of all the stock. Cornero then set about selling the remaining shares. He applied for his gambling license and was turned down, which meant he was stuck with a half-built casino which he could not operate. He asked his friend Milton B. "Farmer" Page if he would like to take over the project, he replied 'yes' as long as he could run it.
In 1955, Cornero made the first of a number of presentations to Moe Dalitz and his partner Meyer Lansky. He borrowed $1.25 million from Dalitz. The second and third loans came soon later and the Stardust Hotel was being put up as collateral for loans. Loans with United Hotels were then nearly $4.3 million. As the hotel construction was coming to a finish, Cornero was out of money again. "We need another $800,000 to stock the casino with cash and pay the liquor and food suppliers," Cornero explained at a meeting that day. Later that day Tony Cornero died.
The Stardust Resort & Casino eventually opened in 1958 and was the biggest hotel in the world. It would become a huge success.
[edit] Death
On July 31, 1955 Tony Cornero was shooting craps at the Desert Inn when suddenly he just dropped dead. It is reported Cornero died of a heart attack, although the word going around was that he was poisoned from his drink. His body was taken off the casino floor before the coroner or sheriff was contacted. His glass was taken and washed and they were never able to find the exact glass Tony had been drinking from. No autopsy was performed and a coroner's jury in Los Angeles agreed with the doctor in Las Vegas that he died of natural causes.
