Alex Meruelo (born March 27, 1964) is a

Cuban-American Cuban Americans ( or ) are Americans who immigrated from or are descended from immigrants from Cuba. As of 2023, Cuban Americans were the fourth largest Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hispanic and Latino American group in the United States aft ...

billionaire who holds business interests in banking, real estate, media, restaurants, food, casinos, and professional sports. He is the owner of Meruelo Group, as well as Meruelo Media, which owns five radio stations and two television stations in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He is also the owner of Fuji Food, two casinos, the Grand Sierra Resort in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

and the Sahara Las Vegas in Las Vegas. Meruelo was the majority owner of the

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

until he sold the team to the league, which then sold the team to

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

owner Ryan Smith, under an agreement with the NHL that the Coyotes would be temporarily deactivated, with Smith using the Coyotes' non-business properties, including players and staff, to form the Utah Mammoth. Meruelo forfeited his ownership of the Arizona Coyotes after the Arizona State Land Department canceled an auction for a 110-acre tract of land in north Phoenix. Meruelo was seeking the land for a new arena.

Biography

Meruelo was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. His parents were accountants who fled the Castro regime. His family moved to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where they held a bridal shop and invested in local real estate. He also started to invest in real estate at an early age, and eventually sold a plot of land in Riverside to

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

, making him a millionaire in his early 20s.Alex Meruelo sees L.A. Latinos as key part of his highest-profile bet: a Las Vegas casino
''Latimes.com'', 20 April 2018 Meruelo attended the Don Bosco Technical Institute in Rosemead, California, and received his B.S. from California State University, Long Beach.

Career

Meruelo began his career in his father's

tuxedo Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and North American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal ...

business. At the age of 23, he decided to open a new type of pizza restaurant catering to Latinos in the US and offering unusual toppings such as chorizo and jalapeños. He bought a failing pizza restaurant and called his new business La Pizza Loca. Within 5 years, La Pizza Loca opened 12 locations and reached $10 million in sales. Meruelo expanded his business focus, founding the Meruelo Group, which has grown into a

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

and

real estate development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw Real Estate, land and the sale of developed land or parce ...

firm. Meruelo Group has ownership of Neal Electric Corp, Select Electric Inc., and Doty Bros within the

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

area. The group also owns the Commercial Bank of California. which Meruelo co-founded in 2003,

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...

s KWHY-TV and KBEH, radio stations KLOS, KLLI,

KPWR KPWR (105.9 FM broadcasting, FM) – branded as ''Power 106'' – is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area. KPWR is owned and operated by Alex Meruelo's Meruelo Group, t ...

KDAY KDAY (93.5 FM, "93.5 KDAY") is a radio station that is licensed to Redondo Beach, California and serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Meruelo Media and airs a classic hip hop format. The station's studios are locate ...

and

KDEY-FM KDEY-FM (93.5 MHz, "93.5 KDAY") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Ontario, California, and serves the Inland Empire area. The station is owned by Meruelo Radio Holdings Ltd. and broadcasts a classic hip hop format. The KDEY-FM ...

under the Meruelo Media banner, and the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada. Meruelo purchased food manufacturer and the largest provider and distributor of pre-packaged sushi in the United States Fuji Food in 2009. In September 2011, Meruelo announced a $25 million investment in the renovation of the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada. In February 2013, the Meruelo Group made a bid to buy

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino for $20 million. The deal fell through and the casino closed the following year. The SLS Las Vegas (formerly the Sahara Hotel and Casino) in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, was purchased by the Meruelo Group in June 2017. Alex Meruelo plans to turn the casino into a favorite destination for the Hispanic community. Meruelo plans to use its media properties to advertise the casino and its events. In May 2019, SLS brand owner SBE Hotel Licensing, LLC filed a lawsuit alleging that Meruelo's Las Vegas Resort Holdings, LLC had failed to pay at least $450,000 in licensing fees since November 2018. On June 28, 2019, The Meruelo Group and Alex Meruelo announced plans to rename the SLS Hotel as The Sahara Las Vegas. On August 29, 2019, the Meruelo Group officially changed the name of the SLS Hotel to Sahara Las Vegas.

Professional sports

In November 2011, Meruelo's bid to take ownership of the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

from the team's then-owners Atlanta Spirit was turned down. The team was later sold to Tony Ressler in 2015. In June 2019, he purchased majority ownership of the

of the

from the previous sole owner Andrew Barroway who retained a minority stake. With his purchase of the Coyotes, Meruelo became the first Latino owner in the NHL. On March 27, 2023 NHL commissioner

Gary Bettman Gary Bruce Bettman (born June 2, 1952) is an American sports executive who serves as the NHL commissioner, commissioner of the National Hockey League (NHL), a post he has held since February 1, 1993. Previously, Bettman was a senior vice preside ...

announced that he would become the sole owner of the

after Andrew Barroway was indefinitely banned from the league after being arrested for the alleged strangulation of his wife. After a turbulent tenure as owner (including the team being kicked out of Gila River Arena following a series of rental disputes, forcing the team to relocate to Mullett Arena, which seats just a minuscule 4,600, while working on efforts to build their own arenas, including the aborted New Tempe Arena plans), on April 18, 2024, the NHL and Meruelo reached an agreement to sell the Coyotes' assets to Smith Entertainment Group, current owners of the

, and move the team's personnel to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

. As part of the agreement, the team would be declared "dormant" as Meruelo would continue with his efforts to build a new arena, with Meruelo becoming owner of a reactivated Coyotes team should he succeed in building the arena by the end of 2029, but would return all remaining Coyotes assets to the league should he fail by the end of the window. Just 10 days prior, it was proclaimed that a bid for 110 acres (44.5 hectares) north of Phoenix at an upcoming land auction was still in the works. On April 17, 2024, the Coyotes played their final game before deactivation at Mullett Arena, beating the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

5-2 without Meruelo in attendance. On June 21, 2024, the

Arizona State Land Department The Arizona State Land Department is a department of the state government in the U.S. state of Arizona dedicated to the management of state-owned lands and property. Mission statement The mission statement of the Arizona State Land Department is ...

announced the cancellation of the auction. Stating that "ASLD recently confirmed that the proposed arena use will require a Special Use Permit, and as a result we are requesting that the applicant file for and receive a Special Use Permit prior to the auction."

Real estate

In May 2008, Meruelo purchased an 8,500-square-foot, $7.05 million house at 36 Indian Creek Drive in Miami. In March 2014, he acquired a $10.79 million penthouse in The Langham, New York. In June 2018, he purchased Colom Island in Spain for 3.2 million euros. In June 2021, Meruelo purchased a 22,000-square-foot, $12.1 million house in Paradise Valley, AZ.Catherine Reagor
Arizona Coyotes owner buys $12.1M home in Paradise Valley; former PetSmart CEO sells one
''AZCentral.com'', 21 June 2021

References

External links

Meruelo Group official websiteSouthern California Real Estate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meruelo, Alex 1964 births 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople American businesspeople in real estate American construction businesspeople American food industry businesspeople American mass media owners American people of Cuban descent American radio executives Arizona Coyotes owners Businesspeople from New York City California State University, Long Beach alumni Hispanic and Latino American mass media people Living people National Hockey League owners