About the Author

Tom Breitling is president of Breitling Ventures, a private investment company. Together with his friend and business partner Tim Poster, he made his second $100 million by age 35.

In 1993, Breitling moved to Las Vegas with $100 in his pocket and joined Poster at Las Vegas Reservation Systems, Inc. (LVRS), the precursor of Travelscape.com. Serving as its vice president, he built the business with Poster from $3.6 million in sales in ’93 to $100 million in 1999. Tapping into the growing online industry, Breitling introduced one of the earliest hotel reservation web sites to include site images, and launched one of the first automatic online reservation systems—a fast, easy to use, five-click system that allowed people to search, compare, and reserve hotel space via the Internet.

Breitling and Poster co-founded Travelscape.com in March 1998. They capitalized on the growth of Las Vegas and of the Internet, propelling Travelscape.com sales to $104 million in 1999. In 2000, the partners oversaw the acquisition of Travelscape by Expedia, Inc., in a deal valued at more than $100 million. Breitling was a member of the board of directors of Expedia in 2002 and 2003.

In 2004, Breitling and Poster acquired The Golden Nugget hotel-casino properties in Las Vegas and Laughlin, Nevada, for $215 million and become the youngest casino owners in the state, with their first venture into the gaming business. Breitling served as vice-chairman of Golden Nugget properties. The partners successfully brought back personalized service to the operation and “Vintage Vegas” glamour and style to downtown, and appeared in the Fox TV reality show, “The Casino.” In September 2005, the pair sold The Golden Nugget to Landry’s Restaurants Inc. for approximately $340 million.

Breitling is a student mentor and serves on the Capital Campaign committee for the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, a K-12 model charter school whose goal is to offer academic programs designed to enhance a child’s character, respect, motivation, and self-discipline. Breitling also contributes to the Nevada Cancer Institute, and is an honorary commander for the Nellis Support Team with Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas.

A graduate from the University of San Diego, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and a minor in Business Administration, Breitling was a weatherman and sportscaster for KHIZ-TV in California from 1991 to 1993. He lives with his wife in Las Vegas.