Gary Loveman

Gary Loveman is an American business executive and former academic. He is the current chief executive officer and president of Caesars Entertainment Corporation. Prior to joining Harrah's Entertainment, the predecessor company to Caesars Entertainment, in 1998, Loveman was a professor at Harvard Business School.

Early life and education

Gary Loveman grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana as the youngest of three siblings. As a child, he was interested in math and active in sports.^[2] Loveman went on to attend Wesleyan University where he earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1982.^[3][4] After graduating from Wesleyan, Loveman worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston for two years as an economic researcher before pursuing a doctorate degree at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.^[2][3] In 1989, Loveman completed his Ph.D. in economics.^[3][5]

Career

Early career

After graduating from MIT at the age of 29, Loveman began teaching at Harvard Business School, where he was a professor for nine years.^[3][5] While at Harvard, Loveman taught Service Management and developed an interest in the service industry and customer service.^[3][5] He also launched a side career as a speaker and consultant after a 1994 paper he co-authored, titled "Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work", attracted the attention of companies including Disney, McDonald's and American Airlines. The paper focused on the relationship between company profits and customer loyalty, and the importance of rewarding employees who interact with customers.^[2][3]

In 1997, Loveman sent a letter to Phil Satre, the then-chief executive officer of Harrah's Entertainment, in which he offered advice for growing the company.^[2] Loveman, who had done some consulting work for the company in 1991,^[6] again began to consult for Harrah's and, in 1998, was offered the position of chief operating officer.^[3] He initially took a two year sabbatical from Harvard to take on the role of COO of Harrah's,^[5] at the end of which Loveman decided to remain with the company.^[7]

Career with Caesars Entertainment Corporation

Loveman served as Harrah's Entertainment's chief operating officer from 1998 until 2003.^[8] As COO, Loveman was responsible for the establishment of the company's Total Rewards loyalty management system, which gathers data on casino customers. The program allowed the company to analyze the travel and spending habits of their customers. Through this, Harrah's determined that repeat slot players, not high rollers, are most profitable to the company. Under Loveman's leadership Harrah's began to focus on building loyalty and bringing more of these gamblers to the casino.^[2][3][8] Loveman also established a rewards program for Harrah's employees of all levels, based on customer satisfaction.^[2]

In 2003, Loveman became chief executive officer, replacing Phil Satre.^[2][3] The following year, Loveman grew Harrah's into the largest casino operator in the world with the acquisition of Caesars Entertainment Inc.^[8][9] As CEO, Loveman expanded Harrah's from 15 casinos in 2003 to over 54 locations in 2013,^[3][7] through the acquisition of Caesars, Horseshoe Gaming Holding, Planet Hollywood, the Imperial Palace casino, and the World Series of Poker brand.^[2][8][10] In 2008, he led the company as it transitioned from a public to private company, after being acquired by private equity firms Apollo Global Management and TPG Capital for approximately $30 billion.^[2][11]

During the economic downturn of the late 2000s the company experienced a decrease in revenue and increased debt associated with the 2008 buyout by Apollo and TPG. Loveman cut costs and renegotiated the company's maturing debt to avoid defaulting. His leadership of the company through the debt restructuring in 2009 was praised by the American Gaming Association president and CEO Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr.^[2][11]

In 2010, Loveman oversaw Harrah's transition to the name Caesars Entertainment Corporation and led the company in an effort to take the company public again.^[1] In 2012, the company successfully completed an initial public offering, selling approximately two percent of its shares.^[12]

In 2013, Loveman initiated the sale of Caesars' golf course in Macau.^[13] The golf course, purchased in 2007, was acquired in anticipation of later acquiring a gaming license and operating a casino in Macau. Loveman had initially turned down the purchase of a gaming license in Macau in 2006, a decision he described in 2010 as the biggest mistake the company has made.^[2]

Loveman, a proponent of online gambling,^[7][14] helped to launch Caesars' online gambling operation in Nevada in September 2013.^[15]

Other activities

In addition to his role with Caesars, Loveman serves on the board of directors at Coach, Inc. and FedEx.^[7][16] He is also on the board of directors for the American Gaming Association,^[17] where he previously served as the chairman of the board from 2007 to 2009.^[18]

He is the chairman of the Business Roundtable's Health and Retirement Committee^[19] and, in 2012, was named to the President's Export Council.^[20] Loveman is a current member of the Boston Children's Hospital board of trustees^[21] and MIT's Department of Economics' visiting committee.^[22] Loveman and his wife have also helped with fundraising efforts for Joslin Diabetes Center.^[23]

Loveman is a proponent of the legalization of online gambling and has published opinion pieces on the topic in the Las Vegas Review Journal and on CNN Money.^[24][25]

Awards and recognition

In 2003, Loveman's career was the subject of a Stanford Graduate School of Business case study.^[3][26] He has been recognized as the "best CEO" in the gaming and lodging industry by Institutional Investor magazine in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.^[27][28][29] In 2013, Loveman was inducted into the American Gaming Association's Gaming Hall of Fame^[30] and awarded the Education Hero Award by the Las Vegas-based Public Education Foundation.^[31]

References