Robert Edward Stupak (April 6, 1942 – September 25, 2009) was an entrepreneur who became a Las Vegas casino developer and owner.

Following army service at Fort Knox, Stupak started a coupon book company in 1964,[3] at age 22,[4] offering two-for-one restaurant discounts, which he relocated to Australia in 1965.

[3] Stupak bought a 1.5 acres (0.61 ha) parcel north of Sahara Avenue at Las Vegas Boulevard South.

[6] Two years later, Valley Bank's Perry Thomas loaned Stupak a million dollars to build the original Vegas World on the site of the former gambling museum.

[citation needed] He bought the Vault casino at 22 Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas and changed its name to Glitter Gulch, which opened in October 1980.

[9] Stupak donated $100,000 to the United Negro College Fund in exchange for a chance to play with the Harlem Globetrotters.

[citation needed] Vegas Vicki was given a new home and namesake cocktail lounge at Circa Resort & Casino.

One of Stupak's most talked about promotions came when he paid a daredevil one million dollars to jump off the top of Vegas World, then charged him a $990,000 landing fee.

In 1990, Stupak approached the mayor and city council with a plan to build the largest free-standing sign in the world.

Then-Councilman Steve Miller, an airline instructor pilot, convinced Stupak to redesign the structure to include an observation deck.

Stupak held a press conference and announced his plan with the caveat that his tower would be the icon of Las Vegas, and Steve Wynn's Mirage would be two miles from him, not the other way around.

[citation needed] The tower opened in late April 1996, making it the third most expensive casino development in history at the time.

[citation needed] He starred in an episode of Crime Story in 1987, and made numerous film and television series appearances.

After defeating a dozen other candidates in the primary, Stupak forced an incumbent city council member into a runoff general election contest.

The renaming occurred on Stupak's birthday, April 6, 2016, as part of a 20th anniversary celebration held for the Stratosphere on the property's south side, near the corner of Baltimore Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.

[23] On his passing, in 2009; College of Southern Nevada history professor Michael Green observed that "The best way to describe him is as a 20th century version of P.T.