Struggling to Stay Ahead – A Pay Perspective on the Gaming CEO

The casino industry is much the same as it was in 2009 as the impact of the recession has been deeper and the recovery slower than most analysts expected. Consumer discretionary spending has been significantly down for most of 2010 as the gaming industry has continued to experience little or no growth. Companies that have a presence in Macau and other Asian markets, such as LVS and WYNN have fared much better than those that operate solely in the United States and/or Europe. Gaming CEOs have had enormous pressure heaped on them from all directions, be it customer, shareholder, employee or government. Although in a difficult spot, we don’t think anyone should be crying for CEOs that have received multimillion dollar paychecks.

For the second straight year, Full House CEO, Andre Hilliou, has emerged at the top of the list. 2010 was also a year with high CEO turnover. Seven CEOs left the corner suite, some on their own, such as TJ Matthews at IGT, and others were forced out, like Dan Lee at Pinnacle Entertainment. Succession usually increases in a down economy but this was a very unusual year. Complete findings of our survey were published in the October 2011 issue of Casino Journal. Read the full article here.