Caesars exec to work for Trump

By Liz Benston (contact)

Monday, July 18, 2005 | 11:04 a.m.

Caesars Palace President Mark Juliano intends to resign from the company July 31 to accept a job offer with Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc.

"He accepted a tremendous job opportunity in a part of the country he calls home," said David Strow, spokesman with Caesars parent Harrah's Entertainment Inc. Strow declined to comment further on Juliano's new position.

"We are pleased that he had stayed on through the merger and assisted us in completing the merger," Strow said. Juliano was welcome to stay on with the company, he said.

A high-level source familiar with Juliano said he will become an executive with Trump Entertainment, which owns the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza and Trump Marina casinos in Atlantic City as well as the Trump Casino Hotel riverboat in Gary, Ind.

Juliano could not be reached for comment.

Trump Entertainment Executive Vice President John Burke and Trump President and Chief Operating Officer Scott Butera declined to confirm Juliano's appointment, referring calls to Chief Executive Jim Perry. Perry could not be reached for comment.

"We think it's a good move for the company," Merrill Lynch bond analyst John Maxwell said. "Between him and Jim Perry they've got a long track record in the Atlantic City market."

"We think it's a further indication that (Perry) is strengthening the management team and bringing in his own people and is going to be running the company in a different fashion than it was before."

Board Chairman Donald Trump appointed Perry, former chief executive of Argosy Gaming Co., to the top job July 6. Wall Street analysts have applauded his appointment and the depth of his experience in the gaming industry.

Trump's casino empire, formerly called Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, recently emerged from bankruptcy under a new name, Trump Entertainment Resorts. The company issued about 40 million shares of new common stock and has plans to revamp its Atlantic City properties to better compete with properties such as the Borgata resort.

Harrah's acquired Caesars Entertainment Inc., including the company's Caesars Palace flagship, last month for about $9 billion.

"The hardest part about leaving Caesars Palace will be saying goodbye to the great people who work there," Juliano said in a statement. "They have been like a family to me."

Juliano became president of Caesars Palace in February 2003.

He had been president of Caesars Atlantic City and later, served as chief operating officer for MGM Mirage in Atlantic City, where predecessor Mirage Resorts had been working on a major casino separate from the Borgata resort. That project was later put on hold.

Juliano also previously chaired the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority.

Caesars Palace General Manager Gary Selesner will serve as interim president during the company's search for a replacement.