Billionaire investor and casino magnate Carl Icahn has found buyers for his Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, which has been closed down since October 2016. According to an official press release, Icahn will be selling the Trump Taj Mahal to Hard Rock International and two investors from New Jersey for an unspecified price.
The Trump Taj Mahal was launched by President Donald Trump back in 1990, who subsequently lost control over the property in a bankruptcy filing. The casino was later bailed out of a separate bankruptcy by Icahn in 2014, but due to a union strike prompted by a loss of pension and health care benefits for the casino’s workers, Icahn filled a petition to close down the casino in September 2016 and officially shut it down one month later.
Commenting on the sale, Icahn, who is also the owner of the Tropicana Casino and Resort, said to the press on Wednesday that his company was “extremely happy” with owning the Tropicana and have decided ,after a thorough deliberation, that they only wanted to own one casino in the city. Icahn also stated in a separate interview in January that he lost around $300 million from the Taj Mahal and would be happy if the casino can be sold for half of the loss.
Mayor Don Guardian also commented on the sale, saying he was happy with it and that seeing professional investors like the Hard Rock group invest in the casino would give new life to that end of the boardwalk. He also added that this was the right time to invest in Atlantic City and restore thousands of jobs for its residents but also people from South Jersey.