EXTREME COLLECTOR: BILL HARRAH

William Fisk (“Bill”) Harrah was born in South Pasadena, California in 1911 to a lawyer and politician. As a result of the Great Depression at the end of the 1920s, the trained engineer kept himself afloat with jobs. His beginnings in the gambling business in Reno, Nevada were initially bumpy and full of setbacks. In 1938, with borrowed money, he opened several bingo venues in Reno, which made him rich within a few years and enabled expansion into Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe as well as into the hotel business, which caused his wealth to positively explode.

The self-made billionaire made a contribution to fighting corruption in the gaming industry and invested heavily in the training of his staff and in the high gastronomic and service standards of his hotels. A hotel management school in Las Vegas still bears his name today, and the Harrah’s brand is now part of the Caesars Group.

Harrah was one of the most extreme car collectors of all time. Although he’s since been overtaken by the Brunei royals with 5000 to 7000 cars, he’s far ahead of the Schlumpf brothers (around 500 cars) and American talk show veteran Jay Leno (approximately 290).

There are different explanations for the origins of Harrah’s passion. Most likely is that his first car fell victim to thieves; he only saw the bare frame again. According to another version, Harrah is said to have used collecting as a vehicle to distract himself from his gambling addiction. When he died, the collection he left behind was said to have been worth around $40 million.