Retiring Boyd president to focus on civic affairs

Tuesday, April 13, 2004 | 10:38 a.m.

Boyd Gaming Corp. President Don Snyder this morning said his planned retirement next March from his duties at the casino operator will allow him to work to fund a University of Nevada, Las Vegas capital campaign and to bring a performing arts center to the city.

Boyd Gaming announced Monday afternoon that Snyder, 56, would retire on March 31. Chief Operating Officer Keith Smith will then add the president title to his own.

Snyder joined Boyd's board of directors in April 1996 and became a full-time employee of the company as executive vice president and chief administrative officer only three months later.

Snyder was named president on Jan. 1, 1997.

Before entering the casino business, Snyder served it in his 22-year banking career with First Interstate Bank. Snyder was chairman and chief executive of the bank -- then Nevada's biggest -- from 1987 through 1991.

Snyder said he told decades-long friend and current boss Chairman Bill Boyd one year ago that he wanted to retire in 2005.

Rewarding careers in banking and the casino business set the stage for the retirement, he said, as did a dramatic jump over the past two years in the value of Boyd stock, which for years tracked in a narrow range near $5 but has jumped to nearly $25, trading this morning at $24.25, down 6 cents.

"I feel incredibly good about what we've done and about how it's all come out," Snyder said, noting the company's stong stock performance and its operating successes, including the opening last year of its first megaresort, Borgata in Atlantic City and its planned $1.3 billion takeover of Coast Casinos.

"The company will be in very good hands with Keith Smith as president," he predicted.

The almost year-long lag between announcement and retirement will allow a smooth transition, both at Boyd Gaming and for some related boards that he'll likely leave, including those of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and the Fremont Street Experience, where he serves as chairman.

He expects to continue his active involvement with the Nevada Development Authority, where he also serves as chairman of its board.

Snyder said he and Sunbelt Communications Co. owner Jim Rogers and their wives are likely to lead a UNLV fund-raising drive, a capital campaign he estimates will aim to generate more than $400 million.

"You really can't have a great city without a great university," Snyder explained.

He ruled out the idea of a political candidacy, for governor or some other office: "Definitely not. I like the idea of public service but not the idea of running for office."

He said he'll spend a bit more time pursuing two favorite hobbies, golf and skiing.

Snyder said that his relationship with Bill Boyd has been an incredibly important relationship in his life, one that will continue past his retirement.

"I go back a long time with Bill and I have tremendous respect for what he's built," Snyder said. "The deep personal relationship with Bill is perhaps the most difficult part of leaving."

He said he intends to maintain his membership on the two bank boards he currently sits on, BankWest of Nevada and its parent, Western Alliance Bancorporation, and possibly join others, he said.