Si Redd

William Redd
Born	William Silas Redd November 16, 1911 Union, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	October 14, 2003 Solana Beach, California, U.S.
Residence	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Alma mater	East Mississippi Junior College University of Mississippi
Occupation	Businessman, philanthropist
Spouse(s)	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".

William Redd was born on November 16, 1911 in Union, Mississippi. His father was a sharecropper. He grew up in Philadelphia, Mississippi.

Redd attended East Mississippi Junior College in Decatur, Mississippi, and he graduated from the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi.

Redd began his career in college, when he invested in a pinball machine in a small eatery in Mississippi. He subsequently founded Northwestern Music Co., and he distributed Wurlitzer jukeboxes in Sterling, Illinois and Dixon, Illinois with his brother-in-law. He subsequently became a distributor for Bally Manufacturing in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1967, he moved on to the Reno, Nevada market. Redd founded a subsidiary, Bally Distribution Co., and he distributed jukeboxes in Carson City, Nevada and Las Vegas. He also acquired the rights to video poker. In 1975, he founded Sircoma, later known as the International Game Technology, a slot machine manufacturer and distributor based in Reno, Nevada. He sold it to Gtech in 1986, and he served on its board of directors until 1991.

...
Wikipedia