LAS VEGAS, March 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MGM Resorts
International ("the Company") or ("MGM Resorts") (NYSE: MGM) today
announced that Chief Operating Officer and President Bill Hornbuckle, has been named acting Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) and President, replacing outgoing Chairman
and CEO Jim Murren. Murren informed
the Company's Board of Directors in early February of his plans to
step down prior to the expiration of his contract, and in light of
the public health crisis gripping the nation and the travel
industry, has vacated the position as of today so as to provide
continuity of leadership for the Company.
Replacing Murren as the Chair of the Board of Directors will be
Paul Salem, who currently is a
member of the MGM Resorts Board of Directors and Chair of the real
estate committee of MGM Resorts, which is in the process of
executing the asset light strategy.
"The nation is facing an unprecedented crisis, causing the
travel and hospitality industry to grind to a near halt. It is
clear that once the threat to the public health has subsided and we
are ready to reopen our resorts and casinos, it will take an
incredible effort to ramp back up," said Paul Salem, Chairman of the MGM Resorts Board of
Directors. "We believe continued steady, skilled leadership is
needed in this time of great upheaval and uncertainty. Bill is one
of the most experienced operators in the business and we have
confidence in his ability to bring this company back online.
Jim Murren is an outstanding leader
who transformed MGM Resorts during his 22 years. Since Jim
announced his stepping down from MGM Resorts, we felt that now more
than ever, continuity of leadership was of vital importance."
"I fully support accelerating the planned leadership transition
to help MGM Resorts address the rapidly changing environment,"
Murren said. "I have great confidence in Bill Hornbuckle and the management team to lead
MGM Resorts at this critical juncture, as we have together through
numerous hardships of the past. I will continue to dedicate my
efforts to help during this uncertain time, and I will be assisting
the State of Nevada in its crisis
response and recovery efforts."
"We have an incredible challenge ahead. We have a talented
leadership team, the best employees in the world, and a loyal
customer base. I have every confidence that MGM Resorts will remain
the global entertainment leader once this crisis is contained and
it is safe to operate," said Hornbuckle. "I look forward to working
with Paul and the entire Board of Directors as we plan for the
future."
Bill Hornbuckle Biography
A four-decade veteran of the gaming industry, Bill Hornbuckle served as President and Chief
Operating Officer of MGM Resorts International and is currently an
Executive Committee Member and a Board of Director of MGM China
Holdings with operations and resorts in Macau. In addition, he is a member of the
Board of Directors of MGM Growth Properties (MGM Resorts' REIT
IPO), the CityCenter JV Board of Directors (a joint venture with
Dubai World) and the Las Vegas Stadium Authority.
He was previously Chief Marketing Officer of MGM Resorts
International from 2009 until 2012. From 2005 until
August 2009, Mr. Hornbuckle served as
President and Chief Operating Officer of Mandalay Bay Resort &
Casino. He previously had served as President and Chief Operating
Officer of MGM Resorts International-Europe, where he worked
on the development of the Company's gaming operations in the
United Kingdom. He also served as
President and Chief Operating Officer of MGM Grand Las Vegas from
1998 to 2001.
Prior to MGM Grand Las Vegas, Mr. Hornbuckle served as President
and Chief Operating Officer for Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. He spent the majority of his career
with Mirage Resorts in various senior management positions,
including President and Chief Operating Officer of the Golden
Nugget Laughlin, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating
Officer of Treasure Island and Vice
President of Hotel Operations for The Mirage, opening the
hotel in 1989.
Mr. Hornbuckle is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and has a Bachelor
of Science Degree in Hotel Administration. He serves on the
Board of Trustees for Three Square Food Bank. He is also a Founder
of the Bank of George, a local
banking institution. Previously, Mr. Hornbuckle served on the
boards for the University of Nevada, Las
Vegas Foundation, and the Andre Agassi Foundation. From 1999
to 2003, he also served as a Board Member of the Las Vegas
Convention and Visitors Authority.
Paul Salem Biography
Paul Salem is a senior managing
director emeritus at Providence Equity Partners, a world leading
private equity firm specializing in the media and communication
industries. He served for 27 years as a senior managing director on
Providence's investment team and
served as a member of the investment committee and management
committees helping grow Providence Equity from $171 million in assets to over $50 billion in his years of service. In 1999, Mr.
Salem established the London
office for Providence Equity and in 2008 helped start Providence's credit affiliate Benefit Street
Partners. In 2014, Mr. Salem lead the purchase of Merganser, a
Providence affiliate and in 2017,
helped start Providence Public, a long/short hedge fund.
Mr. Salem previously served as a director on many of Providence
Equity portfolio companies, including Asurion, Eircom, Grupo
TorreSur, Madison River Telecom, MetroNet (formerly AT&T
Canada), PanAmSat, Tele1 Europe,
Verio, Wired Magazine and several other Providence investments.
Prior to joining Providence in
1992, Mr. Salem worked for Morgan Stanley in corporate finance and
mergers and acquisitions. Prior to Morgan Stanley, he spent four
years with Prudential Investment Corporation, an affiliate of
Prudential Insurance, where his responsibilities included private
placement financings, leveraged buyout transactions and helping
establish Prudential's European office.
Mr. Salem received a Master of Business Administration from
Harvard Business School and a Bachelor
of Arts from Brown University. Mr.
Salem is Chairman of the Board at Year Up, a non-profit focusing on
closing the opportunity divide for urban young adults and a board
member of Edesia Global Nutrition, a social enterprise that treats
acute malnutrition around the globe. Mr. Salem is Clerk (Chair) of
the Board of the Moses Brown School and is on the advisory board of
the Carney Brain Institute at Brown
University.
ABOUT MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) is an S&P 500® global
entertainment company with national and international locations
featuring best-in-class hotels and casinos, state-of-the-art
meetings and conference spaces, incredible live and theatrical
entertainment experiences, and an extensive array of restaurant,
nightlife and retail offerings. MGM Resorts creates immersive,
iconic experiences through its suite of Las Vegas-inspired brands. The MGM Resorts
portfolio encompasses 29 unique hotel and destination gaming
offerings including some of the most recognizable resort brands in
the industry. Expanding throughout the U.S. and around the world,
the company recently acquired the operations of Empire City Casino
in New York and Hard Rock Rocksino
in Ohio, which was rebranded as
MGM Northfield Park. In 2018, MGM Resorts opened MGM Springfield in
Massachusetts, MGM COTAI in
Macau, and the first
Bellagio-branded hotel in Shanghai. The over 80,000 global employees of
MGM Resorts are proud of their company for being recognized as one
of FORTUNE® Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies®. For more
information visit us at www.mgmresorts.com.
Statements in this release that are not historical facts are
"forward-looking" statements and "safe harbor statements" within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
that involve risks and/or uncertainties, including those described
in the Company's public filings with the SEC. The Company has based
forward-looking statements on management's current expectations and
assumptions and not on historical facts. Examples of these
statements include, but are not limited to, the mitigation of the
potential impacts of the coronavirus. These forward-looking
statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Among the
important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements
include effects of economic conditions and market conditions in the
markets in which the Company operates and competition with other
destination travel locations throughout the United States and the world, the design,
timing and costs of expansion projects, risks relating to
international operations, permits, licenses, financings, approvals
and other contingencies in connection with growth in new or
existing jurisdictions and additional risks and uncertainties
described in the Company's Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K
reports (including all amendments to those reports). In providing
forward-looking statements, the Company is not undertaking any duty
or obligation to update these statements publicly as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by
law. If the Company updates one or more forward-looking statements,
no inference should be drawn that it will make additional updates
with respect to those other forward-looking statements.
MGM RESORTS CONTACTS:
Media:
DEBRA DESHONG
SVP Global Corporate Communications
media@mgmresorts.com
Investment Community:
AARON FISCHER
Chief Strategy Officer
702-693-7152
afischer@mgmresorts.com
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SOURCE MGM Resorts International