MGM Resorts International Friday appointed long-time company executive Corey Sanders to chief operating officer of the casino giant.
According to a filing with Securities and Exchange Commission, Sanders, 57, has served as the company’s chief financial officer since March 2019 and previously spent nine years in the chief operating officer position.
No reason was provided for the change. Sanders will also serve as CFO until a replacement is hired.
MGM Resorts operates 26 properties in six states, including nine resorts along the Las Vegas Strip.
The change in Sanders follows the appointment in March of longtime company president Bill Hornbuckle as CEO, replacing the retiring Jim Murren.
Meanwhile, according to a memo from Hornbuckle to company employees on Friday, MGM Resorts changed out two property presidents on the Strip. The memo was posted to Twitter by Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist John Katsilometes on Friday afternoon. Anton Nikodemus was named president of CityCenter and Ann Hoff was named president of Bellagio and Park MGM.
The company was also creating the corporate position of chief technology officer. Also on Friday, MGM Resorts said Atif Rafiq has stepped down as the company’s president for commercial and growth. No reason was given for the departure, according to the SEC filing. Rafiq will remain an employee of MGM through Dec. 18.
“Earlier this year we embarked on a reorganization of leadership at the property level and now I have completed a reorganization at the corporate level,” Hornbuckle said.
In addition to the corporate management shake-up, MGM board member Paul Salem was named chairman in March, replacing Murren. In August, the company added IAC/InterActiveCorp Chairman and Senior Executive Barry Diller and CEO Joey Levin to the MGM board, giving the panel 14 members.
IAC acquired more than 59 million shares of MGM Resorts over a nine-week period starting at the beginning of June, taking an ownership stake of 12% through some 34 stock transactions. Diller, a billionaire media mogul, called the ownership stake a “minority position.”
Earlier this week, MGM Resorts reduced its ownership stake in its real estate investment trust to 53% through a stock sale that netted the company $700 million in cash that was added to its balance sheet. MGM said it would use the proceeds for “general corporate purposes.” As of Sept. 30, the Las Vegas-based company has $5.9 billion of liquidity on its balance sheet.
Shares of MGM Resorts closed at $30.72 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange, up 81 cents or 2.71%.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
