Inside Asian Gaming

March 2009 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 31 into a corner. If Mr Weidner really believed Mr Suen lacked the necessary experience to broker such a big deal, then he, Mr Weidner, must have failed in his fiduciary duty to LVS by engaging with Mr Suen in the first place—ouch! Then there was the very public insight into the LVS boardroom during the dark days of November after the company’s auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, said in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission that if Sands defaulted on debt covenants it would cause “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” Go forthright and multiply (cash) Mr Weidner went on record saying the fact that an effective funding strategy was not in place earlier to head off such a momentous filing by the auditors amounted to “a monumental screw up”. If that wasn’t enough, in early January he scored what in retrospect might be considered a spectacular own goal. When addressing an investors’ forum in the US he talked up the benefits of Singapore’s low gaming tax and the company’s commitment to moving full steam ahead with its Marina Bay Sands resort in the city state, only weeks after LVS had announced the suspension of building work in Macau. It provoked a petition to Macau’s chief executive Edmund Ho calling for theMacau government to review its agreements with LVS and accusing the company of a cavalier attitude to the territory. Three strikes In the weeks to come more background may emerge about Mr Weidner’s exit— unless he has received the sort of ‘golden goodbye’ increasingly common in modern business whereby the late departed agrees not to talk in the public prints or to leak via friends. It could certainly have been worse for Mr Weidner. Under former US President Bill Clinton’s sentencing policy of ‘three strikes and you’re out’, anyone of a lesser stature than Mr Weidner might have been clearing his desk some time ago. Mr Weidner’s successor Michael A. Leven certainly appears to be an experienced hand. Like Mr Weidner, he is a veteran of the hospitality industry. Mr Leven was formerly president and CEO of US Franchise Systems, Inc., a company he founded in 1995 to develop and franchise the Microtel Inns & Suites and Hawthorn Suites hotel brands. He was previously the president and COO of Holiday Inn Worldwide, president of Days Inn of America, and president of Americana Hotels. He has also served on the board of directors of Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Hersha Hospitality Trust. No amount of experience on Mr Leven’s part can however make up for an important fact. Mr Weidner’s rule coincided with a time when LVS stood tall as probably the richest and most powerful casino operator the world has ever seen. Mr Leven has no such honeymoon glow to warm him during the chill of global recession. Inside Asian Gaming wishes him luck. LVS