Business magnate Carl Icahn is set to embark on a quest for a new owner of the shuttered Trump Taj Mahal hotel and casino complex. The venue closed doors in October after a prolonged workers’ strike.
A bill authored by a key New Jersey legislator to strip the businessman of his casino license for a period of five years was the final straw that stretched Mr. Icahn’s patience beyond limit and brought the decision to sell the once-prosperous casino resort. The New York investor confirmed his intentions on Monday in a statement published on his official website.
In the meantime, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the bill yesterday, claiming that it was aimed at punishing the businessman for his decision to close a struggling business after its employees failed to “negotiate in good faith.”
The legislation – SB 2575 – was introduced by Senate President Stephen Sweeney last fall and was voted in the affirmative by both houses of the New Jersey Legislature. If it had not been vetoed by the Governor, it would have precluded any casino license applicant who had closed a gambling venue after January 1, 2016 from being granted such license for the next five years.
Trump Taj Mahal was the only casino to have been shuttered after the above date, so the New Jersey Governor deemed Senate President Sweeney’s proposed legislation a “transparent attempt” to disqualify Mr. Icahn from any future attempts to obtain a license. The state’s top lawmaker also noted that the bill represented the New Jersey Legislature “at its worst.”
Previously owned by newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump, Trump Taj Mahal opened doors in 1990. The hotel and casino complex was promoted as the eighth wonder of the world back then. Long were gone its glorious times when Mr. Icahn bought the venue in 2015, barely saving it from closure.
Trump Taj Mahal never recovered its gloriousness and its profitability kept sinking even with a new owner at the helm. Last summer, employees (members of the UNITE HERE Local 54 labor union) picketed the property in an attempt to negotiate better health insurance and pension benefit terms. The strike continued more than a month, with the involved parties failing to come to an accord.
It was announced in August, that Trump Taj Mahal would be shuttered later in 2016; the prolonged workers’ strike was cited as the main reason. The property became the fifth of this kind to close in Atlantic City since early 2014.
Mr. Icahn said in his statement that he expects to sell the complex at a loss as other large investors like him will probably not be interested in investing in Atlantic City’s casino industry for now. The businessman had previously committed to put an up to $200-million investment to revitalize the then-struggling Trump Taj Mahal.
