Lanni leaving MGM

Gary Thompson

Thursday, Oct. 14, 1999 | 11:15 a.m.

MGM Grand Inc. Chairman Terry Lanni announced today he's leaving his full-time post as chief executive of the Las Vegas-based casino company, but will stay on as a director and consultant.

Lanni said he will leave as the person in charge of the company's day-to-day operations to spend more time with his family in California.

"I will probably take a full-time position with another company in another industry in Los Angeles, and I have no intention of competing with MGM Grand," he said.

The announcement of Lanni's resignation, which will be effective at year-end, was made during a conference call with analysts and reporters to announce MGM Grand had once again achieved record quarterly financial results.

Strong financial performance has been a hallmark of MGM Grand under Lanni's leadership, and he's built a strong management team that should help the company prosper when he leaves at the end of the year.

But Lanni will be missed, both by MGM Grand and his colleagues in the gaming industry.

"Terry is one of gaming's giants, one of the clear leaders in the industry," said former State Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Bible, who served with Lanni on the recently concluded National Gambling Impact Study Commission.

"He's a person of great credibility and personal integrity," Bible said. "I dealt with him both as Control Board chairman and on the federal study panel, and he served both MGM Grand and the industry extremely well."

"If you look at what he's done at MGM Grand in the past four-and-a-half years, the results speak for themselves," said Dave Ehlers, chairman of Las Vegas Investment Advisors. "He transformed an under-performing asset into one of the premier properties in the gaming industry."

"I've been privileged to be part of a company that has transformed itself into one of the leaders, if not the leader, in this portion of the gaming industry," Lanni said.

"This isn't a one-person company. We have great depth of management and have developed very deep bench strength. We have an active and involved executive committee and board of directors, and I will remain a member of the committee and the board, and will be an advisor to the company."

Lanni noted he's had "a split personal life," maintaining homes in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, and spending as much time as possible with his wife and two teenaged sons who are enrolled in schools in the California city.

"I firmly believe that family comes first," he said, confirming that he'll be leaving as chief executive officer.

The Sun reported two weeks ago that Lanni was likely to announce his departure soon.

The 56-year-old executive built Caesars World Inc. into the best-recognized brand in gaming, serving as president of that company from April 1981 to February 1995, when he resigned due to interference from Caesars' new owner, ITT Corp.

A month later, billionaire Kirk Kerkorian -- who owns about 60 percent of MGM Grand -- hired Lanni as the company's president. By June 1995, Lanni was joined by Alex Yemenidjian, a top Kerkorian aide. The next month, Lanni was named MGM Grand chairman.

Lanni and Yemenidjian began planning transformation of MGM Grand's 5,000-room hotel-casino into the "City of Entertainment," a $700 million-plus makeover that has made the Strip property one of the most successful in the business.

Lanni oversaw MGM Grand's acquisition of Primadonna Resorts Inc., its joint venture partner in construction of the New York-New York hotel-casino that enjoys the highest returns on investment in Las Vegas.

He also led the company's expansion into South Africa and supervised construction of The Mansion at MGM Grand, a complex of 29 luxury villas aimed a luring the world's super-rich high rollers to the MGM.

Lanni's tenure on the National Gambling Impact Study Commission during its two-year probe of the industry drew praise from gaming proponents and opponents alike.

Lanni said an announcement on his successor would be made before the end of the year. There's speculation Yemenidjian, who serves as president of the casino company and chairman of MGM studios -- also controlled by Kerkorian -- may assume the top post at MGM Grand.