Frank Fertitta III and Vice Chairman Lorenzo Fertitta used Station Casinos' 50th anniversary to hand out a $70 million stock award to roughly 10,000 full- and part-time staff. Every employee on the payroll at the cut-off date will receive $1,000 in Red Rock Resorts Class A shares for each year they have worked for the group.
The award ceremony
The ceremony took place in a Las Vegas ballroom where the Fertitta brothers addressed the workforce.
"When you walk out of here today, we want you to walk out differently than you walked in, not just as someone who works at Station Casinos, but as someone who owns a piece of it," Lorenzo Fertitta said.Eligible workers can begin claiming their shares from the following Monday. Long-serving employees such as Ida Johnson, who started in 1977, received $49,000 worth of stock, while six other staff members who began at the former Bingo Palace in the 1970s each earned more than $45,000 in equity.
Why the equity award matters
Station Casinos traces its roots to 1959 when founder Frank Fertitta Jr. moved from Galveston, Texas, to Las Vegas and opened a modest casino in 1976. The business grew into the Palace Station brand and now operates 14 properties across the Las Vegas Valley, including Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa, Green Valley Ranch Resort Spa Casino and Durango Casino & Resort. By rewarding staff with ownership stakes, the company follows a broader trend among large employers, from Bank of America to Apple, that use equity to retain talent and align employee interests with corporate performance.
What comes next
The Fertitta brothers said the award reflects the company's founding principles of serving the local community, delivering value and, above all, taking care of team members. With the shares now claimable, employees will see a direct financial benefit tied to the company's future success. Industry observers expect other hospitality and gaming operators to watch the move closely, as equity-based compensation becomes an increasingly popular tool for building loyalty in a competitive labour market.