Bernard "Bernie" Goldstein (February 5, 1929 – July 5, 2009) American attorney ENTREPREUR.He was the founder and chairman of Isle of Capri Casinos and is sometimes called the "father of modern riverboat gambling" because he was the first person to run riverboat casinos in the Midwest and South after they became legal in the 1990s.[1]
He joined the Davenport, Iowascrap metal firm, Alter Companies, owned by his father-in-law, Frank R. Alter, in 1950[3] and served as secretary/treasurer until 1964, when he was elected executive vice president. He became president in 1973 and chairman in 1980.[4]
Its first boat was the MV Frank R. Alter. Its boats are marked by districtive yellow trim. The boats initially transported coal upriver and scrap metal down and then expanded into carrying grain.[7]
In 1998, he wrote a book about the company, Navigating the century: A personal account of Alter Company's first hundred years.
In 1989, as he approached retirement he began lobbying Iowa to pass riverboat gambling. His boat the M/V Diamond Lady was the first legal riverboat casino in modern times when it sailed from Bettendorf on April 1, 1991.[8] The President, a gambling boat owned by John E. Connelly, opened 30 minutes later in Davenport.[1]
