Caesars shareholder Paulson touts company’s stock at New York forum

Hedge fund billionaire John Paulson touted his firm’s ownership of Caesars Entertainment Corp. Wednesday at the Ira Sohn Investment Conference in New York.

Paulson, who controls about 9 percent of Caesars through his Paulson & Co. hedge fund, told investors he believes in the long-term health of the company stock. Caesars went public on the Nasdaq Global Select market in February with an IPO that opened at $9 a share. More than 1.85 million shares were traded in that opening session and the stock price rose to nearly $14.

Caesars share price has bounced around since.

Paulson said that the Caesars social gaming platform, Plakita, was worth $8 per share alone.

Paulson also discussed Caesars small public offering, saying that roughly 7 percent of the company is publicly traded.

Due to the few number of shares that are freely traded, Paulson believes rising demand for the stock could cause a sharp price increase.