CityCenter sucks, other senior managers caused LVS's huge stock price decline, and moving back up to 3rd richest is most important. I'm paraphrasing and embellishing but you get the gist.
LVS Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson recently shed some light on a lot of issues. I don't know if it is the light of truth but it is entertaining. Here we go.
ON CITY CENTER:
"Even though there is a lot of publicity about it, I haven't heard anyone who's seen it tell me it is going to be a winner. They have no strategy. They have no obvious plan. If they try to compete in the travel and tour business, they will cannibalize all their other properties, like the Bellagio. They don't have a convention space big enough to make an impact. So they built it without a strategy. How ill-advisable is that?"
- Negative comments by competitors is commonplace in the casino industry. This statement is particularly harsh but may not be far off base. The "without a strategy" comment is a little much. The strategy was to capitalize on runaway consumer spending and housing prices. We know how that is turning out.
ON WHAT CAUSED THE PRECIPITOUS STOCK PRICE DECLINE:
"We did have a few bad managers, and they were the primary reason why our stock fell 99%. Those guys financed our expansion by borrowing against future assets (casinos) that generate income, rather than taking out normal project finance loans. It put us in a horrible position. Now those executives are gone, and I love coming to work again."
- Bill Weidner and Brad Stone, it's all your fault! Why didn't you guys advise Sheldon to sell the company at $140 per share? Normal project finance loans? Most casino companies have financed their developments on their own balance sheet. But hey, why let the facts get in the way of a good game of blame game?
ON SHELDON'S GOAL:
"My priority now is to get back to where I was, to be worth $40 billion again and rank third in America."
- World peace, eliminate hunger, top notch healthcare for all? I'm a capitalist too but even if I was the greediest guy on the planet, I like to think that I would at least announce my greed in a more palatable way. I'm in no position to judge though. Even though he is no longer #3, he's still one of the tallest guys in the country, when he sits on his wallet (another Sheldon quote, this one from the good ole days).
