Imperial Palace of Mississippi in Biloxi, the second large hotel and casino built by Ralph Engelstad. On the right is the 32-story hotel which has 1,100 rooms, a health spa, six movie theaters and space for part of Engelstad's remaining 400-car auto collection (he sold 300 cars last August). At the left is the 3,000-car parking garage. Between them is the casino which has an Oriental pagoda design. The modernistic design incorporates towers similar to those that are a distinctive part of the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas, NV.

Business has consumed the life of Ralph Engelstad and, he admits, it may have consumed some of his spirit as well. He is tired, he says; tired of the way today's business must be conducted, with a 100-page contract replacing yesterday's handshake, a dozen tax considerations for every business decision, and an intrusive and restrictive government which stifles incentive.

Described by those who know him best as a person who has always seemed "driven" to succeed in whatever project or challenge he faced--as a high school hockey goalie, an under-sized but over-achieving guard on the high school football team, or an astoundingly successful businessman at the pinnacle of his career--Engelstad says he has had enough.

"I intend to sell everything this year," he said matter of factly, in answer to a question about his consideration of retirement.

"Everything" includes the Imperial Palace hotel and casino in Las Vegas--the pride of his business career--the recently-completed Imperial Palace of Mississippi, most of his remaining 400-car collection and dozens of business properties throughout the United States. "I've had enough," he said of the hassles of today's business. "Who needs it?"

Some say Ralph needs it. It would be too great a withdrawal, they say, for him to dispose of his extensive holdings and back away cold turkey from the frenzied schedule of activities and decisions which has been his daily routine for decades. Anyway, they add, he has been saying he was going to sell for at least a dozen years but continues to press forward. They question if he knows how to not work.

Engelstad insists he can do it, no doubt at all. And he has given some indications that he is serious. In the past year he sold 300 cars from his world-renowned collection, five office buildings, and the NASCAR race track which he and a partner built in Las Vegas just a year or so ago.

What would he do in retirement?

"Nothing," he said. "I could be perfectly content to read a book. It wouldn't bother me."

One should not be surprised, however, that Engelstad has tired of the business world, nor that he has come to some definite conclusions regarding government, the media, business ethics and trust.

Ralph accumulated his wealth despite what he considers usurious taxes. "You pay taxes all along the line in whatever your business is," he said, "and the government takes 40 percent out of everything at the end. There should be one national sales tax or one percentage which everyone pays for income taxes. I don't know why I should pay a higher percentage than you.

"Let's say I made more money than you," he continued. "That money is not going to go idle. It's going to be invested, it's going to create jobs, it's going to do all kinds of things. It's going to keep the economy moving. Why they have to have a different rate just doesn't make sense.

"It's all politics," he added. Everything is done to appeal to the voting masses, to get elected or reelected. What I think of politicians I don't think you could print. I want nothing to do with any of it. It all just stinks so bad."

He laments that young people are prevented by laws and regulations from being introduced to the world of work early in life, as he was. "Missing the way it was before must be part of getting old," he said. "There are so many laws now, so many restrictions. You can't give kids a job. Why not? You're making it worse for those kids by not letting them work. It isn't fair and it just doesn't make sense."

Unlike entertainers or other public figures who rely on the media for the exposure that gives them the recognition they need, Engelstad reserves some of his lowest opinions for the media. He believes, and probably justifiably so, that he has been treated badly by the press in the past. "They will take anything you say and twist it and print it so that it slants the way they want the readers to interpret it," he said. "I got sick of it. That's why I have a strict policy of not talking to anyone in the media. The press, used car salesmen and lawyers--they're all in the same group." The interview Ralph granted as the basis for this series of articles is a unique break with his policy.

Ralph feels that business ethics have eroded over the years. "We used to do a lot of business on a handshake," he said. "I built apartment houses and motels for people and we never had a contract. We would figure it out and say this will cost you so many dollars, and write it down on a slip of paper and that was it. You can't do that any more. Today you better have a 100-page contract."

Throughout his business career Engelstad has learned that trust is a rare and elusive commodity. "The only people I trust are you and me, and I'm not so sure about you," is the way he defines it."

Engelstad says he never had time for recreational pursuits and is not prone to socializing. He said his circle of friends is small and his station in life requires that he is cautious and his movements are restricted. One of the reasons he has three jet aircraft, including the Boeing 727 that brought him back to Thief River Falls several weeks ago, is for security. He has not taken a commercial airline flight in more than 20 years. Another 727, a 174-passenger plane, is now in the process of being converted to replace the one presently in use.

The family has received death threats, he said, "...but they don't worry you so much because you know about those. "It's what you don't know about that concerns you."

Although the Engelstads recently moved into a new home they had built in Las Vegas, there was a certain degree of security when they occupied one of the towers at the Imperial Palace. It allowed Ralph to walk out of the door to his office and into the door of his home without leaving the building. The hotel itself is like a small city, having in addition to its 2,700 rooms and eight restaurants both beauty shops and barber shops and even its own medical clinic.

The clinic wasn't included in the original building plan but evolved out of the business. Like much of the "city that never sleeps," the clinic is open 24 hours a day and is available to guests and employees. Its medical staff is arranged under contract and the arrangement is both convenient for workers and smart business. With 2,500 employees, the Imperial Palace has a self-insured medical plan. An in-house clinic reduces time employees' need to be off the job for medical reasons, and they pay no deductible if they use the clinic on site.

Of all his business dealings, Engelstad says building the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas probably gives him the most pride--because it was something he did entirely as an individual.

"I wasn't a public company," he said. "I couldn't float bonds or take stockholders' money. I had to convince certain banks I could do it. A bank will only take so much risk. I did most of my dealing with one, and that bank worked with others to make up the package. But that was years ago. Now I don't have to worry about paying the bills and I don't owe anybody anything."

Engelstad said he doesn't know why he would be of much interest to the general public. "I suppose some people are curious.....why, I don't know," he said.

The answer is not so much that Engelstad has managed from a standing start to accelerate to considerable wealth, but that he has chosen to share that wealth in this area. His generosity has made him a public figure, although his personal preference is not to be one.

"I don't do it for publicity," he said when asked if he has a philosophy on philanthropy. "I guess I do it for my own self-satisfaction, for the good feeling it gives me. It's helping others and I hope it gives them the insight that they could probably do the same. I want to leave the idea that you need to work hard to succeed, but if you do work hard and use your head, the sky's the limit."

Whenever he makes a rare public appearance and makes comments in regard to his donations, he reminds listeners of the two sayings which are guideposts on his road to success: "No dream comes true until you wake up and go to work" and "The harder I work, the luckier I get."

In regard to his recent $100 million gift to the University of North Dakota, where he graduated in 1954, he said that he does not plan to be involved in design of the hockey arena for which some of the gift is dedicated. "That's for the experts," he said, "and I'm no expert. I plan to be involved only to the extent that I can help to see the university gets the best value for each dollar spent."

That isn't to say that Engelstad doesn't know a thing or two about functional design. He has had to remind architects, for instance, that whatever else is incorporated into casino design, it is essential that people have to walk through the casino to reach the restrooms. And it is hard not to notice in the design of the Imperial Palace of Mississippi, that the casino is located between the 32-story hotel and the 3,000-car parking garage.

Although he owns two large casinos, Engelstad rarely indulges in the casino gambling pastime himself. "I'm gambling in business every day," he said. "That's enough excitement for me. Maybe if I'm out of town and have some time on my hands I'll gamble a little, but it doesn't hold any real fascination for me. I'm just glad it does for other people."

Ralph said that the proliferation of gambling casinos on Indian reservations around the country is no little thing and a "sore point" with him. "There's nothing wrong with Native Americans operating casinos," he said, "I don't have a problem with that, but they should operate under the same rules and pay the same taxes as other casinos do. That would be no more than fair."

If Engelstad does indeed sell his Imperial Palace this year as he said he will, the gambling license does not transfer with it. Licenses are issued to specific holders, and the Nevada Gambling Commission keeps a watchful eye on who holds them. Anyone can apply for a license, but must also pay for the background investigation, Ralph said. "It depends on how clean you are," he said. "The cost can go from $100,000 to $1 million or more. The commission will go to your home town and check you out--even if you're from a foreign country."

To get into the casino business in Las Vegas today has a price tag from $800 million to $1 billion, Engelstad said, because of the competitive nature of the business and the value of property. His Imperial Palace is located on the nine acres he originally purchased with the Flamingo Capri motel. He has not developed the adjoining 10 acres he purchased from Howard Hughes.

There will be no problem finding buyers for either of the Imperial Palace businesses, Engelstad said. It is unlikely, however, that either will remain individually rather than corporately owned. "If someone has that kind of money (Ralph estimates the Imperial Palace in Las Vegas alone is worth $400 million)," he said, "why would they want to own that?" The sale would mark the end of an era of private ownership.

From his early years on the outdoor hockey ice behind St. Bernard's school, the tenacity developed as an all-conference right guard on the Prowler football team and the work ethic fostered by hard labor in Thief River Falls and in North Dakota, Ralph Engelstad has become a legend in his own time. If you're a gambling person, you can make odds that there will never be another story here like his. 

Back to the Top