Business Ventures

Venture capitalist Darin Feinstein is known as a serial entrepreneur both for the quantity of companies he has launched as well as their successful return on investment.

Feinstein’s background combines an undergraduate degree in accounting with a Juris Doctor degree (J.D.). He maintains a license to practice law in California, though Feinstein’s current focus has led him away from legal practice and into the areas of technological innovation, venture capital, and a variety of operating businesses in the hospitality and entertainment fields. Feinstein also served on the board of the Nevada Restaurant Association and other organizations throughout his career.

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Law & The Real Estate Industry

Feinstein gained experience at the accounting firm of Kenneth Leventhal, now part of Ernst & Young Global Limited. After law school, Mr. Feinstein served as in-house counsel at The Richland Group, a real estate investment banking company. Feinstein founded a boutique nvestment banking firm in 2000. The firm specialized in niche real estate developments with a focus on managing projects in the Southwest and on the Pacific coast, coordinating at times with the California Coastal Commission.

Restaurant and Entertainment Industries

Black Star Investments, LLC

Black Star Investments, LLC was founded by Feinstein in 2012 to centralize the management of his growing range of businesses which encompass a range of industries from live entertainment to technology. Under the Black Star umbrella are: El Dorado Cantina, Fatburger Restaurants, Fat Bar, Boulevard Foodcourt, Rock & Reilly’s, TicketBat, and Red Mercury Entertainment.

  • El Dorado Cantina
    The El Dorado Cantina is an award-winning organic and GMO-free Mexican concept restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip, which now has sister locations, including spots opening in Lake Tahoe and San Diego. The original El Dorado in Las Vegas was founded and created by Feinstein in 2014.

  • Fatburger Restaurants
    The Fatburger franchises of Las Vegas, owned and incorporated by Feinstein in 2011, pull in over $10 million annually. The restaurants are located at the Green Valley Ranch Resort Spa & Casino, Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa and on the Las Vegas Strip across from Park MGM.

  • Fat Bar
    Feinstein created the Fat Bar concept, the first of which opened on the Las Vegas Strip in 2012, paired with Fatburger, forming a 24-hour food and beverage destination.

  • Boulevard Foodcourt
    Boulevard Foodcourt (BLVD Food Court) opened in May 2017 was conceived for Las Vegas dinners seeking a curated experience outside of casinos, with multiple food offerings in one place. The food court, created by Feinstein in consultation with restaurant industry professionals, is an inclusive dining experience for every budget.

  • Rock and Reilly’s
    Feinstein’s Rock and Reilly’s Las Vegas opened on the Las Vegas Strip in 2017 at the Hawaiian Marketplace. It is an “Irish Rock Pub,” which features a stage for live music. The restaurant, bar, and patio provide 6,700 square feet of service for traditional Irish pub grub. 
  • Red Mercury Entertainment
    Red Mercury Entertainment is a live entertainment company employing approximately 1,000 people, founded in 2013 by owner and managing partner, Darin Feinstein. It is a full service production house for some of the top-grossing shows in Las Vegas. Performers and shows contracted by Red Mercury include: “CeeLo Green is Loberace,” Jerry Seinfeld, Elton John, Celine Dion’s “A New Day…”, Prince at the “3121 Club,” Barry Manilow, “Jersey Boys,” Bette Midler’s “The Showgirl Must Go On,” and Shania Twain.Red Mercury manages entertainment at The Strat Hotel, Casino & Skypod in Las Vegas with Golden Entertainment, as well as a theater and box office at the Tropicana Las Vegas. Feinstein and Red Mercury co-produced audience destination shows in Las Vegas featuring J-Lo, Britney Spears, Lionel Richie, Gwen Stefani, Aerosmith, and Lady Gaga with Caesars Entertainment, MGM Grand Las Vegas, and Live Nation at Park MGM’s Park Theater, Planet Hollywood, and the Venetian.Red Mercury has managed and operated four of the Riviera’s showrooms since 2013, including: Starlite Theatre, Crazy Girls Theatre, Le Bistro Lounge, and the Versailles Theatre.
  • MJ Live
    Feinstein is the owner and producer of the “MJ Live” tribute show. MJ Live, the Michael Jackson tribute show highlighting the talent of the legendary Michael Jackson has run for almost a decade.
  • TicketBat
    TicketBat is an online ticket platform developed and launched by Feinstein under Red Mercury Entertainment in 2016 to provide business and leisure travel customers value and customer service as they access products and activities in Las Vegas.
  • Tix4
    Purchased by Feinstein in 2023, TIX4 (formerly Tix4Tonight) has been a trusted ticket source for over 20 years, boasting a proven track record of high-touch sales on the Las Vegas Strip. Tix4 has sold more than 15 million tickets since its launch in 2002.
computer chip
Feinstein’s technology investments led him to found Core Scientific Inc. and Blockcap Inc.

Tech Industry

Blockcap to Core Scientific

In 2012, due to his background in accounting, Darin Feinstein realized that The Bitcoin Network is the first innovation in accounting in 700 years. The miners for this network had similar roles to accountants outside the digital space. A Bitcoin miner is simply a computer server protecting and auditing the Bitcoin Network, and with that knowledge, Mr. Feinstein began buying computer equipment to help run and protect over a period of several years Mr. Feinstein’s technology investments led Mr. Feinstein to the realization that there was no large scale infrastructure for HPC and bitcoin servers. As a result of this realization, Mr. Feinstein founded Core Scientific Inc., in 2017 as a data center company to host the highest computational servers available.  These servers included GPUs, ASICS as well as other AI-dedicated equipment.

Mr. Feinstein was the company’s CEO from 2017-2018 and served on the Core Scientific board until 2018. In 2020, Feinstein left Core Scientific and founded Blockcap Inc., harnessing skills and assets to form a powerful U.S.-based collective of hashing power, poised for exponential growth in blockchain technology and mining. In 2021, Core Scientific and Blockcap entered a definitive merger agreement.

Companies like Blockcap and Core Scientific are changing how people store, process, and share information, globally, across all industries as the ability to scale analytics in an ever-growing digital marketplace evolves. In addition, the company still builds the most important innovations in data centers for high-powered computing. Core Scientific can be found under the ticker symbol $CORZ

Catch up with Feinstein’s insights on the future of digital assets and the technologies unlocking potential for public and private business. 

© Darin Feinstein 2024