William Redd | |
---|---|
Born | November 16, 1911
Union, Mississippi, U.S. |
Died | October 14, 2003 (aged 92)
Solana Beach, California, U.S. |
Education |
East Central Junior College University of Mississippi |
Occupation(s) | Businessman, philanthropist |
Spouse | 3 |
Children | 2 daughters |
William Redd, also known as Si Redd (1911–2003) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the founder of International Game Technology, a slot machine manufacturer and distributor. He was the owner of the Oasis, a hotel and casino in Mesquite, Nevada. He was the rightsholder of video poker, and he became known as the "king of slot machines". [1]
Redd was born on November 16, 1911, in Union, Mississippi. [2] [1] [3] His father was a sharecropper. [2] He grew up in Philadelphia, Mississippi. [4]
Redd attended East Central Junior College in Decatur, Mississippi, [2] and he graduated from the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. [1] [4]
Redd began his career in college, when he invested in a pinball machine in a small eatery in Mississippi. [2] He subsequently founded Northwestern Music Co., and he distributed Wurlitzer jukeboxes in Sterling, Illinois, and Dixon, Illinois, with his brother-in-law. [2] [4] He subsequently became a distributor for Bally Manufacturing in Boston, Massachusetts. [1] In 1967, he moved on to the Reno, Nevada, market. [2] Redd founded a subsidiary, Bally Distribution Co., [2] [5] and he distributed jukeboxes in Carson City, Nevada, and Las Vegas. [1] He also acquired the rights to video poker. [4] In 1975, he founded Sircoma, [5] later known as the International Game Technology, a slot machine manufacturer and distributor based in Reno, Nevada. [2] He sold it to Gtech in 1986, and he served on its board of directors until 1991. [2]
Redd developed Pride of Mississippi, a gaming boat off the coast of Mississippi on the Gulf of Mexico, [1] but it went bankrupt and he lost US$20 million in it. [2] He was the owner of Oasis, a hotel and casino in Mesquite, Nevada, from 1976 to 2001. [4] He sold it for US$31 million. [2] Meanwhile, he founded the Mesquite Vistas Land Development Co. and the Oasis Golf Course. [1]
Redd was inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame in 1991, [4] [6] and the Nevada Business Hall of Fame in 2002. [7]
Redd made charitable contributions to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, [2] where he was a member of the UNLV Gift Club Palladium Society. [1] Moreover, the Si Redd Room and the Redd Vision video screen scoreboard at the Thomas & Mack Center are named in his honor. [1] He received the Chin's Humanitarian of the Year Award from the Muscular Dystrophy Association in 2001. [4]
Redd founded the Las Vegas International Cultural Trade Center and Wild Animal Conservancy. [4] He donated US$150,000 to Problem Gambling Consultants, a non-profit organization for gambling addicts. [1]
Redd was married three times. His first wife, Ivy Lee, died in 1974. [2] His second wife, Marilyn, died in 1996. [2] His third wife, Tamara, outlived him. [2] He had two daughters, Vinnie Copeland and Sherry Green. [2] He resided in Las Vegas, Nevada, and summered in Solana Beach, California. [1] [2] He was a member of the Las Vegas Country Club. [4]
Redd died on October 14, 2003, in Solana Beach, California. [2] [5] He was 91 years old. [2] [5] His funeral was held at the Palm Mortuary in Las Vegas, Nevada. [1]
His son-in-law, Alan Green, served as the chief executive of the Mesquite Vistas Land Development Co. and the Oasis Golf Course. Alan passed away on June 18, 2021 in Naples, FL. [1]