Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

gaming:

Longtime Las Vegas Sands board member resigns

James Purcell says William Weidner decision should have gone before full board

Updated Friday, March 13, 2009 | 8:21 p.m.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. reported more turmoil in its boardroom on Friday, with a longtime director resigning in protest over the full board having no say in the decision to oust William Weidner as president and chief operating officer.

The hotel and casino giant, led by Chairman and Chief Executive Sheldon Adelson, said board member James Purcell resigned March 9 and was replaced on the board by Jeffrey H. Schwartz.

In his resignation letter, Purcell said he was told -- after the fact -- that two board members would be meeting with Weidner on March 4 to request his resignation. Adelson, who controls the company, ultimately made the decision to replace Weidner with board member Michael Leven after a series of well-publicized disputes between Adelson and Weidner.

"It was, in my judgment, wrong to engage in discussions with Weidner to request his resignation without a full and open discussion of the potential consequences of the series of actions that were planned,'' Purcell wrote. "No business enterprise should undertake the significant actions that have been and are proposed to be taken ... without a full meeting of the board.

"In presenting this resignation, I do so with sadness because I am not unaware that submission of a non-quiet resignation has consequences not only for the company, but for me personally. I regret both, but management must respect the board in its entirety and it has not done so.''

The news was announced after the stock market closed and on a day that saw Sands stock jump 50 cents, or 28 percent, to $2.27 after stock advisory company Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. told clients Sands has "trophy assets'' and can survive by selling some assets and likely won't need to renegotiate its debt arrangements or seek additional equity.

Las Vegas Sands disclosed March 10 that Weidner was told March 4 he was being replaced as president and chief operating officer -- four days before Weidner resigned.

"The company believes that the March 4, 2009, meeting with Mr. Weidner served as notice to Mr. Weidner that he would no longer be employed by the company,’’ Las Vegas Sands said in a regulatory filing.

Las Vegas Sands said that after the two board members informed Weidner he was being replaced, "the company and Mr. Weidner attempted to negotiate the terms of Mr. Weidner’s departure for the next several days, but were unable to reach agreement.''

Weidner said in his resignation later he resigned his executive positions and his position on the board of directors for "good reason'' under his employment agreement.

The boardroom changes come amid a global recession that has hurt Las Vegas Sands at a time it has been trying to expand in both Asia and the United States, though Adelson told analysts this week the company is holding its own financially and in Las Vegas is doing well compared to competitors. On the Las Vegas Strip, Sands owns the Venetian and Palazzo resorts that together have 7,100 suites and that feed its big meetings and convention business including its Sands Expo Center.

The last period for which Las Vegas Sands posted results was for the fourth quarter of 2008, when revenue rose 4.3 percent to $1.9 billion and the company lost $111.3 million.

The collapse of Las Vegas Sands' stock price -- it traded at about $125 in November 2007 --- has led to at least three lawsuits filed by shareholders alleging the board of directors failed to properly oversee the company. It's likely the plaintiffs' lawyers are closely tracking the heightened dissension revealed this week between Adelson and Weidner and between Purcell and the remaining board members.

Las Vegas Sands said Schwartz is the chairman and co-founder of Global Logistic Properties, a venture it said controls the largest platform of logistic facilities in Asia.

Las Vegas Sands said that prior to his role with Global Logistic Properties, Schwartz was chairman and chief executive officer of the Fortune 500 Company ProLogis, which controls more than 475 million square feet of industrial space in North America, Europe and Asia.

He spearheaded the ProLogis entry into the European and Asian markets and ProLogis soon became the market leader in China, Japan, and Korea, Las Vegas Sands said.

"As a company with an already significant and still growing presence in Asia, Jeff's insights will certainly be valuable as we continue to execute on our development plans in the region, specifically the opening of the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore," Adelson said in a statement. "We would also like to thank Jim Purcell for his years of service on the board."

Purcell has a been a Las Vegas Sands director since July 2004. Las Vegas Sands said in a 2008 regulatory filing that he was a partner at the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison from 1964 through 1999 and has practiced law in Boca Raton, Fla., since his retirement from that firm.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy