IN DEPTH: TIMELINE

BILL BOYD/BOYD GAMING CORP. TIMELINE

• Nov. 4, 1931: Bill Boyd is born in Los Angeles.

• Labor Day, 1941: Sam Boyd, with $80 in his pocket, moves his wife Mary and son Bill to Las Vegas.

• 1941-1944: Sam Boyd works at the Jackpot Club, Savoy, El Cortez and El Rancho Vegas, earning $6 to $8 per day, paid in silver dollars.

• 1952: Sam Boyd purchases a 1 percent interest in the Sahara.

• 1953-1955: Bill Boyd is drafted into the Army and serves a tour of duty in Germany.

• 1957: Bill Boyd graduates from the University of Utah School of Law and returns to Las Vegas to open a law practice that he manages for 15 years.

• 1957: Sam Boyd purchases a 3.5 percent interest in the Mint Hotel.

• 1962: The Boyd family purchases the Eldorado Casino in Henderson.

• 1971: Sam and Bill Boyd are part of a group that develops and opens the Union Plaza.

• 1974: Sam and Bill Boyd found The Boyd Group.

• 1975: The California Hotel and Casino opens. Bill Boyd gives up his law practice to concentrate full time on the casino business.

• 1979: Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall opens, the first property to be developed along Boulder Highway.

• 1983: The state of Nevada appoints the Boyd Group to operate the Stardust during the casino's license revocation hearings.

• 1984: Bill Boyd donates $1.5 million to UNLV to help replace the artificial turf at the Silver Bowl football stadium. The facility is renamed Sam Boyd Stadium in honor of Sam Boyd.

• 1985: The Boyd Group acquires the Stardust and Fremont.

• 1988: Boyd Gaming reorganizes; Sam Boyd retires but retains title as honorary chairman of the board. Bill Boyd becomes chairman of the board and CEO.

• Jan. 15, 1993: Sam Boyd dies.

• October 1993: The Boyd Group becomes a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange and changes its name to Boyd Gaming Corp., trading under the symbol BYD.

• May 1994: Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall in Tunica, Miss., opens, the company's first property outside of Nevada.

• July 1994: Boyd Gaming signs an agreement with the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians to develop and operate the Silver Star Resort and Casino in Philadelphia, Miss.

• September 1994: Boyd Gaming opens the Treasure Chest in suburban New Orleans.

• September 1995: Vacations Hawaii, a Hawaiian travel agency serving downtown Las Vegas, is acquired by Boyd Gaming.

• May 1996: Boyd Gaming Corp. and Mirage Resorts reach an agreement to develop the Borgata in Atlantic City.

• November 1996: Boyd Gaming renovates Main Street Station and reopens the property adjoining the California in downtown.

• December 1996: Boyd Gaming acquires Par-A-Dice riverboat in East Peoria, Ill.

• 1997: Bill Boyd donates $5 million to found the Boyd School of Law at UNLV. In 2005, he contributes another $25 million to ensure the school's future success.

• November 1999: Boyd Gaming acquires Blue Chip riverboat in Michigan City, Ind.

• September 2000: Boyd Gaming begins construction of Borgata at Renaissance Pointe in Atlantic City.

• May 2001: Boyd Gaming acquires Delta Downs Racetrack in Vinton, La.

• July 2003: The Borgata opens.

• January 2004: Boyd Gaming acquires Harrah's Shreveport in Shreveport, La., and renames the property Sam's Town.

• July 2004: Boyd Gaming acquires Coast Casinos in a $1.3 billion buyout. Coast becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Boyd Gaming, adding the Barbary Coast, Gold Coast, The Orleans, Suncoast and the under-construction South Coast.

• December 2005: South Coast opens.

• January 2006: Boyd Gaming announces plans for Echelon, a $4.8 billion mixed-use hotel-casino development on the site of the Stardust.

• February 2006: Boyd Gaming acquires a 40-acre casino site in North Las Vegas for future development.

• June 2006: Boyd Gaming acquires the Dania Jai-Alai center and approximately 50 acres of related land in South Florida for future casino development in the state.

• October 2006: Boyd Gaming and Coast Casinos founder and Boyd board member Michael Gaughan complete a swap. Gaughan trades in stock in Boyd Gaming for ownership of the South Coast, which is renamed Michael Gaughan's South Point. Gaughan resigns from the Boyd board.

• November 2006: The Stardust closes to make way for Echelon.

• February 2007: Boyd Gaming trades the Barbary Coast to Harrah's Entertainment for 27 acres adjacent to the Stardust, giving the company 87 total acres for the Echelon project.

• March 2007: The Stardust is imploded.

• June 2007: Formal groundbreaking for Echelon takes place. The resort is expected to open in 2010.

• July 2007: Boyd Gaming announces that Bill Boyd will turn the CEO position and day-to-day duties over to company president Keith Smith on Jan. 1. Boyd will become executive chairman. He remains involved in the company's strategic direction, but plans to spend the bulk of his time on customer and employee relations.