User:Chuckhoffmann/Sandbox

Clifford Seeley Perlman (March 30, 1926 - September 4, 2016) was an American attorney and businessman who co-founded the Lum's chain of family restaurants and Caesars World, Inc., which owns the Caesars Palace casino and hotel. He was important in the transition of Las Vegas casinos from organized crime control to corporate ownership.

Early Life and Education
Clifford S. Perlman was the middle child of Dr. Bernard Perlman, a Philadelphia dentist, and Freda Perlman. He had an older sister, Marilyn, and a younger brother, Stuart Z. Perlman.

Born and educated in Philadelphia, Perlman graduated from Northeast High School in June of 1943. After about a year of college, Perlman enlisted in the Army on April 18, 1944 in New Cumberland, PA. He was stationed at Camp Blanding in Florida and served in the 86th Infantry Division as a private, earning a Combat Infantry Badge, three Battle Stars and the Bronze Star.

After the war, Perlman worked for the Smiling Jim Potato Company, owned by his brother-in-law. At his mother's urging, he returned to college, enrolling under the GI Bill at the University of Miami in Coral Gables in 1947. Upon completing his undergraduate degree, he enrolled in the University of Miami Law School in 1948.

Early Career
Clifford Perlman was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1951, and opened a law office with a partner in June of that year. He would practice at the firm, which eventually became Perlman, Litman, and Sponder, for nine years.

In 1956, a client of Perlman's asked him to become the president of Southern Wood Industries, Inc., a manufacturer of kitchen cabinets. Also in 1956, he purchased Lum's, a bar and hot dog stand in Miami Beach, Florida, with his brother Stuart for $10,000. In 1958, he formed Lum's Bar, Inc. which changed its name in 1961 to simply Lum's, Inc.. Perlman left Southern Wood in 1962 to concentrate on Lum's operations full-time.

Lum's
Lum's had expanded to four locations by 1961 and began an era of aggressive growth and franchising. By 1966, there were 30 Lum's restaurants. In 1968, there were 165 and in 1970, there were 389 company-owned and franchised Lum's.

Lum's expanded further, opening the Abner's chain of restaurants in 1968 and acquiring Dade Wholesale Products, which owned 86 Eagle Army-Navy Discount stores. By 1969, Lum's, Inc., owned 111 Eagle Army-Navy Discount stores.

Lum's had also acquired Dirr's Gold Seal Meats, a Miami-based meat processor, from Ernst and Hilda Hinterkopf in 1968. This company would eventually supply 25% of Lum's meat, in addition to other companies.

One odd footnote to Lum's history is the opening of "Laugh-In", a proposed chain of restaurants based on Rowan and Martin's popular television show of the time. At least one location of this themed restaurant opened, in Hollywood, Florida.

However, by the time Lum's was listed on the New York Stock Exchange on October 14, 1969, Clifford Perlman had already begun to change the direction of the company.

Caesars Palace
Jay Sarno had opened Caesars Palace in 1966, but by 1969 was looking for a buyer. Jerry Perenchio learned that Caesar's was looking for a buyer and flew to Miami from Las Vegas to meet with Perlman and discuss the deal. Perenchio would later earn a finders fee of about $800,000 for this.

On April 24, 1969, Lum's signed a deal to buy Caesars Palace for $60 million, and the acquisition was completed September 30 of that year. However, problems would arise from this transaction and others that would plague both Perlman and his brother Stuart for years to come.

As part of the transaction, Jerome Zarowitz, the Director of Casino Operations at Caesars, was paid $3.5 million in two installments. Zarowitz was also in partnership with Genovese crime family member Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno and an organized crime associate.

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