Jake Kozloff
{{Short description|Russian-American businessman}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jake Kozloff
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| birth_name = Jacob Kozloff
| birth_date = 1901
| birth_place = Russia
| death_date = April 22, 1976
| death_place = Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| resting_place = Kesher Zion Cemetery, Shillington, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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| occupation = Businessman
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Jake Kozloff (1901–1976) was a Russian-born American businessman. He was the owner of the Lebanon Valley Brewing Company in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, in the 1930s. He invested in hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the 1940s and 1950s, where he was also the president of Temple Beth Sholom. He went on to invest in hotels and casinos in the Caribbean in the 1960s.
Early life
Jacob Kozloff was born to a Jewish family{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCJfAIOC2csC&q=Jake+Kozloff+jew&pg=PA179|first=John P.|last=Marschall|title=Jews in Nevada: A History|pages=179|publisher=University of Nevada Press|date=February 1, 2008|isbn=9780874177374}} in Russia in 1901.{{cite web|title=Jake Kozloff|url=http://digital.library.unlv.edu/jewishheritage/people/jake-kozloff|website=Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project|publisher=UNLV University Libraries|accessdate=March 23, 2025}}{{cite news|title=Jake Kozloff, Ex-Local Brewer, Buys Haiti Hotel|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/11191530/?terms=%22Jake%2BKozloff%22|accessdate=March 2, 2016|work=Lebanon Daily News|date=December 29, 1958|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration |page=5|location=Lebanon, Pennsylvania}} He emigrated to the United States in 1905, settling in Reading, Pennsylvania.
Career
Kozloff served as the owner, president and treasurer of the Lebanon Valley Brewing Company on North Seventh Street in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, from 1933 onwards.{{cite news|title=Jake Kozloff's Name Comes Up In Baker Probe|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/5514247/?terms=%22jake%2Bkozloff%22|accessdate=February 29, 2016|work=Lebanon Daily News|date=February 29, 1964|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration |pages=1; 3|location=Lebanon, Pennsylvania}} He remained its owner until the late 1940s, when he sold it.
File:Golden Nugget Las Vegas.jpg
Kozloff moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, in the late 1940s, where he invested in casinos. He first invested in the Thunderbird Hotel (alongside Joe Wells, Jack Lane, Guy McAfee),{{cite book|last1=Moehring|first1=Eugene P.|title=Resort City in the Sunbelt: Las Vegas, 1930-2000|date=2000|publisher=University of Nevada Press|location=Reno, Nevada|isbn=9780874173567|oclc=43434597|pages=49–50|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jojgQ2zz50EC&q=Jake+Kozloff&pg=PA50}} and served as a manager.
With Guy McAfee and Beldon Katleman, Kozloff acquired the Frontier Hotel from Bill Moore for US$5.5 million in 1951.{{cite book|last1=Wright|first1=Frank|title=Nevada Yesterdays: Short Looks at Las Vegas History|date=2005|publisher=Stephens Press|location=Las Vegas, Nevada|isbn=9781932173277|oclc=60708529|page=104|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VD0e59nXb6MC&q=Jake+Kozloff&pg=PA104}} Kozloff served as its manager from 1951 to 1955. In 1955, when he paid US$100,000 for Mario Lanza to perform for two weeks at the casino, Kozloff bragged that it was the highest salary an entertainer had ever received in a Las Vegas casino.{{cite news|title=Mario Lanza to Get $100,000 in 2 Weeks|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/13485272/?terms=%22Jake%2BKozloff%22|accessdate=March 5, 2016|work=The Paris News|date=February 17, 1955|location=Paris, Texas|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration |page=16}} When he stepped down, Kozloff was succeeded by Beldon Katleman.{{cite news|last1=Considine|first1=Bob|title=Gambling Enjoyed While Behind-Scenes Action Ignored. If Las Vegas Walks With Devil, Nobody Seems To Care|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/48354869/?terms=%22Jake%2BKozloff%22|accessdate=March 5, 2016|work=Lubbock Avalanche-Journal|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration |page=3|date=January 30, 1955|location=Lubbock, Texas}}
Kozloff subsequently invested in the Golden Nugget and again served as its manager. In 1956, Kozloff signed a 20-year lease of the Royal Nevada hotel in Las Vegas with conductor Phil Spitalny from Frank Fishman.{{cite news|title=New Management Runs Royal Nevada|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/74002507/?terms=%22Jake%2BKozloff%22|accessdate=March 3, 2016|work=Long Beach Independent|date=February 24, 1956|page=5|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration }} In June 1957, he became the manager of the Thunderbird Hotel once again.{{cite news|title=Jake Kozloff Buys Into Haiti Casino|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19581228&id=jLEhAAAAIBAJ&pg=5177,5298518&hl=en|accessdate=March 2, 2016|work=Reading Eagle|date=December 28, 1958|pages=1; 12}}
Meanwhile, the gambling application for the Hacienda, a hotel in Paradise, Nevada, was delayed by Robbins E. Cahill, the founding chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, in 1956, partly because Kozloff, who had invested US$250,000 in cash for a return of 12.5%, was turned down for a gaming license.{{cite news|title=Gaming Board Wrestles With Vegas Problem|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/50433931/?terms=%22Jake%2BKozloff%22|accessdate=March 5, 2016|work=The San Bernardino County Sun|date=August 24, 1956|location=San Bernardino, California|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration |page=30}}{{cite news|title=Board Denies License To Big Vegas Hotel|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/7684141/?terms=%22Jake%2BKozloff%22|accessdate=March 5, 2016|work=The Ogden Standard-Examiner|date=July 27, 1956|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration |location=Ogden, Utah|page=4}} The casino had 32 other investors. However, by 1958, Kozloff was the main investor in the Hacienda, another casino in Paradise, Nevada.{{cite news|last1=Oncken|first1=Ed|title=New Hotel Not Waiting For Convention Hall To Be Built|url=http://lasvegassun.com/news/1956/jun/11/new-hotel-not-waiting-convention-hall-be-built/|accessdate=March 2, 2016|work=Las Vegas Sun|date=June 11, 1956}}
Kozloff and Clifford A. Jones were majority shareholders of the Grand Antilles Casino in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1958. In 1964, they invested in casinos operated by the InterContinental Hotels Group in the Caribbean. Three years later, in 1967, Kozloff was the manager of the Aruba Caribbean Casino in Aruba.{{cite news|title=That's Earl For Today|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/27998298/?terms=%22jake%2Bkozloff%22|accessdate=February 29, 2016|work=The Evening Standard|date=July 24, 1967|page=8|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration |location=Uniontown, Pennsylvania}}
Judaism
Kozloff served as the chair of the United Jewish Appeal in 1951. He subsequently served as the president of Temple Beth Sholom in Las Vegas, Nevada from 1951 to 1953.{{cite web|title=History|url=http://www.bethsholomlv.org/#!mission-history/c1qhp|website=Temple Beth Sholom|accessdate=February 29, 2016}}
Death
Kozloff died on April 22, 1976, in Reading, Pennsylvania.{{cite news|title=Gambling Figure Dies|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/78797209/?terms=%22Jake%2BKozloff%22|accessdate=March 3, 2016|work=Nevada State Journal|date=April 23, 1976|location=Reno, Nevada|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration |page=18|quote=Jacob "Jake" Kozloff a pioneer Las Vegas gambling figure, died Thursday at the age of 76 after suffering a stroke.}} He was 76 years old. He was buried at the Kesher Zion Cemetery in Shillington, Pennsylvania.
References
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Category:Businesspeople from Las Vegas
Category:American casino industry businesspeople
Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Category:20th-century American businesspeople
Category:Russian businesspeople in the United States
Category:Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States