Jack Wishna (May 5, 1958 – November 27, 2012) was an American businessman and photographer. He was the president and CEO of CPAmerica, a consulting firm for

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

, and leisure organizations, based 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 ...

. He was also a founder of Rockrena Inc., which launched Rock City Club, a social music network. Wishna had been called "a wheeler and dealer in the gaming industry". Wishna "put together a deal potentially worth $250 million for Wayne Newton" at the

Stardust Resort & Casino The Stardust Resort and Casino was a casino resort located on along the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. The Stardust was conceived by Tony Cornero, and construction began in 1954. Cornero died in 1955, and the project was taken over by h ...

, and had worked with celebrities such as

Michael Flatley Michael Ryan Flatley (born July 16, 1958) is an American former professional performer and choreographer of Irish dance. Flatley is credited with reinventing traditional Irish dance by incorporating new rhythms, syncopation, and upper body movem ...

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...

and

Mohamed al-Fayed Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed (; 27 January 192930 August 2023) was an Egyptian businessman whose residence and primary business interests were in the United Kingdom from the mid-1960s. His business interests included ownership of the Hôtel R ...

on projects in Las Vegas. He had also partnered with

Tony Orlando Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis (born April 3, 1944), known professionally as Tony Orlando, is an American Pop music, pop/Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and music executive whose career spans nearly seven decades. He is best known for h ...

. He was credited with bringing

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 ...

to Las Vegas by facilitating the partnership between Trump and

Phil Ruffin Phillip Ruffin is an American businessman. He owns the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino and Circus Circus Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, in addition to a number of other enterprises including hotels, casinos, greyhound racing tracks, oil product ...

. Wishna helped convince

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

to return to America after 18 months in exile, and worked with him for seven months in an effort to create his comeback. According to Norm Clarke, Wishna "was instrumental in having the pop icon move back to the United States." Wishna was Jackson's friend and worked on several projects with him, including Wishna's Rock City Club project and presenting

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; ) is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Jun ...

with the idea to do a Michael Jackson show based upon the Thriller song and Jackson's many #1 hits. Wishna founded Rockrena, Inc. and the Rock City Club brand with music promoter

Don Kirshner Donald Kirshner (April 17, 1934 – January 17, 2011) was an American music publisher, music consultant, rock music producer, talent manager, and songwriter. Dubbed "the Man with the Golden Ear" by ''Time'', he was best known for managin ...

. In 2012, Rock City Club partnered with

Slacker A slacker is someone who habitually work aversion, avoids work or lacks work ethic. Origin According to different sources, the term "slacker" dates back to about 1790 or 1898. "Slacker" gained some recognition during the UK, British Gezira Sche ...

online music service to create what it described as the world's first internet music channel devoted exclusively to giving undiscovered artists and bands the chance to have their music heard by millions of potential fans. Some of the biggest music producers in the world, with 162 Grammy Awards to their names, participate in Rock City Club. The channel is headed by

Ron Dante Carmine John Granito (born August 22, 1945), known professionally as Ron Dante, is an American singing, singer, songwriter, Session musician, session vocalist, and record producer. Dante is best known as the real life lead singer of the fiction ...

and includes the production expertise of people like

Phil Ramone Philip Rabinowitz (January 5, 1934March 30, 2013), better known as Phil Ramone, was a South African-born American recording engineer, record producer, violinist and composer, and co-founder of A & R recording studio. Its success led to expansion ...

Kerry Gordy Kerry Ashby Gordy (born June 25, 1959) is a career music executive and fourth eldest child of the founder of Motown Records, Berry Gordy. Kerry is the chief executive officer of Kerry Gordy & Associates, Inc. LLC, KGIP Inc., and NuVintage, LLC., ...

(son of Motown legend

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), also known as Berry Gordy Jr., is an American retired record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record label and i ...

), and

Lamont Dozier Lamont Herbert Dozier (; June 16, 1941 – August 8, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Detroit. He co-wrote and produced 14 US '' Billboard'' number-one hits and four number ones in the UK. Career Dozier was a ...

Career

Wishna grew up in New York City and launched his first entrepreneurial venture at 8 years of age, going door-to-door in his neighborhood, fixing broken televisions and radios for five dollars. At the age of 13, Wishna taught himself photography to land a position as photographer at Brooklyn Today newspaper. When Wishna was only 17, a chance meeting with

Steve Rubell Steve Rubell (December 2, 1943 – July 25, 1989) was an American entrepreneur and co-owner of the New York City disco Studio 54. Early life Rubell and his brother Donald grew up in a Jewish family in the Crown Heights and Canarsie sections ...

led to Wishna becoming the photographer at

Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater and former nightclub at 254 West 54th Street (Manhattan), 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. Opened as the Gallo Opera House in 1927, it served ...

when

and

Ian Schrager Ian Schrager (born July 19, 1946) is an American entrepreneur, hotel manager, hotelier and real estate developer, credited for co-creating the "boutique hotel" category of accommodation. Originally, he gained fame as co-owner and co-founder of S ...

opened the nightclub in New York City. Wishna photographed

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

Halston Roy Halston Frowick (April 23, 1932 – March 26, 1990), known mononymously as Halston, was an American fashion designer, who rose to international fame in the 1970s. Halston's minimalist, clean designs, which were often made of cashmere or ...

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, ...

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. He became well known in television series such as ''Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and '' Dan Augus ...

and

Bianca Jagger Bianca Jagger (born Blanca Pérez-Mora Macías; 2 May 1945)

. By the age of 19, Wishna opened his own commercial and celebrity photography studio in NYC, where he photographed celebrities like

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He began acting in television before transitioning into a leading man in films. List of awards and nominations received by John Travolta, His accolades include a Primetime Em ...

Peter Frampton Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English-American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who rose to prominence as a member of the rock bands the Herd and Humble Pie. Later in his career, Frampton found significant success as a s ...

and

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

for the pages of

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

and

Newsweek Magazine ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev ...

. At 21 years of age, Wishna founded Globalforce International, an executive search consulting firm. Clients consisted of Fortune 500 manufacturing and service companies, including Bristol-Meyers,

JP Morgan JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is the largest bank in the United States, and the world's largest bank by mar ...

and

Chase Manhattan Bank JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in New York City that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and financial services holding ...

. In 1999 Wishna founded CPAmerica Inc., a consulting firm specializing in mergers, acquisitions, and special entertainment projects for the gaming, lodging and leisure industry. He opened offices in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, New York City and Las Vegas.

Death

On November 27, 2012, Wishna was found in his car at his home in

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the List of cities in Nevada, 2nd most populous city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with 317,610 residents. The city is part of the Las Vegas V ...

, dead from carbon monoxide poisoning. The death was ruled a suicide. He was 54 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wishna, Jack 1958 births 2012 deaths American casino industry businesspeople American computer businesspeople American entertainment industry businesspeople Businesspeople from Nevada Businesspeople from New York City Businesspeople from the Las Vegas Valley Photographers from New York (state) Suicides by carbon monoxide poisoning Suicides in Nevada 20th-century American businesspeople