Thomas Breitling
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| Tom Breitling | |
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 Tom Breitling |
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| Born | 19 June 1969 St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Occupation | Author of Double or Nothing, President of Breitling Ventures |
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Thomas Breitling (born 19 June 1969) is an American entrepreneur, best known for the time he owned the Golden Nugget Las Vegas and starred on the reality television show, The Casino.
Breitling's first successful business venture was Travelscape.com, with which he started with his business partner, Timothy Poster. They eventually sold the company to Expedia, Inc., which at the time was owned by Microsoft.
Breitling is currently president of Breitling Ventures, a private investment company. He is also the author of the book, Double or Nothing.
More information about Tom can be found at http://www.tombreitling.com[1].
[edit] Early Life
Tom was born in Minnesota in June of 1969. His father, Fred Breitling from Palatine, IL, was a pilot for Northwest Airlines after serving in the Air Force. His mother, Carol Breitling, was a nurse from Waseca, MN.
Tom was educated at St. John the Baptist in Savage, MN through the 8th grade. He then went on to the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, MN, where he attended High School and played Basketball. He then went on to study at the University of San Diego in California. He was a member of the Sigma Pi fraternity, and graduated with a degree in Communications, with a minor in Business Administration, in 1991.
Tom always had a passion for sports, but was limited by his physical stature, so he was forced to out-think and out-work his opponents. He was known as an ambitious person and an extremely hard worker. He held a variety of jobs throughout his youth, and he was always held in extremely high regard by his employers.
[edit] Professional Career
Tom had dreams of being a sportscaster for ESPN, so he started off as a weatherman for KHIZ-TV in California in 1991. It wasn't long before he was promoted to sports anchor for the station.
In 1993, his friend Tim Poster, asked him to help him run his startup company, Las Vegas Reservation Systems. Breitling moved to Las Vegas with $100 in his pocket and joined Poster, and watched the company grow exponentially. He served as its vice president until he co-founded Travelscape.com in March 1998 to realize his vision of tapping into the growing online industry. Along with Poster, Breitling capitalized on the growth of Las Vegas and the growth of the Internet and propelled Travelscape.com’s sales to $104 million in 1999, from just $800,000 in sales in 1990. Breitling and Poster eventually sold Travelscape to online travel giant Expedia, in a deal valued at over $100 million.
Breitling, along with Travelscape co-founder Tim Poster, oversaw the acquisition of the company by Expedia, Inc., which made Expedia.com the largest online provider of hotel rooms and vacation packages. Breitling also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Expedia, Inc. in 2002 and 2003.
From June 2003 to September 2005, Breitling served as vice-chairman of the Golden Nugget Las Vegas properties in Las Vegas and Laughlin, NV. Breitling and Poster acquired the Golden Nugget properties in June 2003 for $215 million and brought back personality and personalized service to the operations, which included their own reality television show on Fox called The Casino. This was their first venture into the gaming business, and in September 2005, the pair sold the Golden Nugget to the Landry’s corporation for approximately $340 million.
Tom is also a passive investor in a variety of different industries; film, restaurants, and financial services, to name a few.
[edit] Double or Nothing
Tom spent much of 2006 and 2007 writing the book, Double or Nothing. The book documents his personal and professional life in great detail. It focuses on the friendship and business relationship that he has with Tim Poster, and how they were able to succeed despite the many obstacles that they faced. The book is being published by Harper Collins and was released nationwide on March 18, 2008. More info on the book at http://www.tombreitling.com/the-book/[2].
[edit] Philanthropy
Currently, Breitling serves on the capital campaign committee for the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy (AACPA), a model charter school whose goal is to offer academic programs designed to enhance a child's character, respect, motivation and self-discipline. Located in the heart of Las Vegas' most at-risk neighborhood, AACPA was created specifically to improve skill levels and combat lowered academic expectations while creating a climate of hope among this community's most challenged children. Advanced technology, smaller class sizes and extended school hours are just some of the practices the AACPA utilizes to achieve a higher standard of education.
Breitling was also a founder of the Nevada Cancer Institute, a team of dedicated professionals committed to advancing the frontiers of knowledge of cancer through research and providing world-class, research-linked cancer services to Nevadans and people throughout the southwest. Their research-linked, comprehensive cancer facility opened late Summer 2005 and is dedicated to state-of-the-art research and implementation of groundbreaking methods of prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer.
He is also an honorary commander for the Nellis Support Team with Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, a group of influential community leaders from throughout Nevada who support Nellis Air Force Base and the Air Force.
Breitling also supports the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in New York. The Frank Sinatra School of the Arts (FSSA) opened in the fall of 2001 as a public high school in Queens, New York. FSSA provides a rigorous academic curriculum, in addition to its unique arts offerings, with all of its students majoring in one of five studios: Drama, Dance, Fine Art, Instrumental, or Vocal Music. FSSA believes that the arts and academics play equally important roles in its students' education and strives to integrate the two curricula whenever possible. Within its studios, FSSA aims to instill in its students a love of their craft, challenging the societal norm that values instant, fleeting success over a lifetime of cultivation and achievement. FSSA also wants to create young artists who connect with the wider world. To that end, the school requires its students to employ their art form towards community service work throughout their high school years.
Breitling also financially supports a variety of other causes.
[edit] Personal Life
Tom was married to his wife Vanessa on September 12th, 2007. They live in Las Vegas, NV and enjoy spending time with their families & friends and traveling to a variety of destinations.
