| J. Terrence Lanni | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 14, 1943 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | July 15, 2011 (aged 68) Pasadena, California, U.S. |
| Residence | Las Vegas, Nevada Pasadena, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Former Chairman of the Board and CEO of MGM Mirage |
| Spouse | Debbie; 2 children |
Joseph Terrence Lanni (March 14, 1943 – July 14, 2011)[1] was the former Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of MGM Mirage, one of the world's leading hotel and gaming companies headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. He also served as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors.
He joined MGM Grand, Inc. on June 1, 1995, as President & Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors. In July 1995 he was named Chairman and CEO. In 2000, he oversaw the acquisition of Mirage Resorts by MGM Grand, Inc., which created MGM Mirage.[2]
He was a senior executive of Caesars World, Inc. for 18 years, serving as President and Chief Operating Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of that company from April 1981 to February 1995. Lanni joined Caesars World in January 1977 as Chief Financial Officer, was named Senior Vice President in April 1978, and elected Executive Vice President in December 1979. Prior to joining Caesars, he was Treasurer of Republic Corporation, a New York Stock Exchange-listed conglomerate based in California.
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He graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.S. degree in business and in 1992 he received the "Alumnus of the Year Award" from USC Marshall School of Business.[3]
He was appointed by the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1997 to serve on the nine-member National Gambling Impact Study Commission. In October 2000 he was inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame, and in January 2001 was the recipient of Casino Journal's 2001 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Lanni served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club; the Board of Trustees of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation; Santa Clara University, and the Board of Overseers of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. Lanni also served as Chair of the American Gaming Association.
Lanni died July 14, 2011, aged 68, from cancer. He was survived by his wife Debbie and their two sons.[2]
On November 15, 2008, Lanni announced his resignation as CEO of MGM Mirage, effective November 30, as doubts emerged about the MBA he claimed to have received from USC.[4] In the announcement Lanni stated: "I must stress that this issue has nothing to do with my decision" to retire.[5] Mr Lanni’s corporate profile on the MGM Mirage web site had, until the week of his resignation, stated that he had received an MBA from the university.[4]
Officials at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business—responding to an inquiry from the Wall Street Journal -- told the company it had no record that Lanni had earned a master's degree in business administration from the school. The university contacted MGM Mirage on November 12, 2008 following the Journal's inquiries about a recent discovery by Barry Minkow, a private fraud investigator in San Diego, of a discrepancy between Lanni's corporate biography and a database of college degrees accessible to private investigators. As recently as late November 13, 2008 company materials said Lanni had earned the MBA degree. The claim has lingered in his biography for years. In 1982, when Lanni was president of casino operator Caesars World Inc., the company issued a release stating he received "an MBA in finance from USC in 1967." But James Grant, a USC spokesman disagrees. "No [MBA] degree was conferred", he said, adding the school had completed a rigorous search of its records in response to the Journal's queries. MGM Mirage's biography also said Lanni earned a bachelor of arts degree in speech from USC. According to Mr. Grant, that was also inaccurate though he confirmed that Lanni did earn one degree from USC, a 1965 bachelor of science degree in business. Lanni said he took a series of classes toward an MBA, but didn't finish because he went to work instead. But he said he was awarded an honorary MBA from USC in 1992 when he was named Alumnus of the Year by the business school. "I understood I was given an honorary degree," he said. At USC, Mr. Grant said the university's list of honorary degrees didn't include Lanni either.