Gaming regulators scold Caesars
By J.D. Morris, Las Vegas Sun
To get a sense of just how complicated the bankruptcy of Caesars Entertainment’s main operating division is, picture a Chicago courtroom filled with 200 lawyers, all working on the case.
That’s a real situation Caesars faced recently, general counsel Tim Donovan told gaming regulators on Thursday. Donovan said Caesars was paying for many of those lawyers, who represent the company and creditors.
Since the operating division sought bankruptcy protection in mid-January, hoping to eliminate about $10 billion in debt, the case has mostly played out in Chicago, where it was filed.
But Caesars executives had to appear before the Nevada Gaming Commission for approval of some routine matters last week, and commissioners used it as an opportunity to get a detailed look into the bankruptcy.
So for around two hours, Donovan and his colleague, Caesars Chief Financial Officer Eric Hession, presented information and answered questions related to the financial restructuring of the operating division, Caesars Entertainment Operating Co.
Caesars is the parent company of Stateline’s Harrah’s Lake Tahoe and Harveys.
Failing to pay pensions, yet top mgt. still gets bonuses? Amazing they still have jobs, let alone gaming licenses.
Gotta like the regulator that pointed out how they wasted money on that dumb ferris wheel idea, even though they knew they soon would be unable to pay their bills?
While they’ve already let go many good people I know here in town, hopefully, even though they have a shrinking Tahoe market share, and the bankrupt company is blowing another $200 mil. on a convention center in dying Atlantic City, those still working for them in Tahoe can salvage their pensions?!
Caesars files bankruptcy, employees laid off or pressured out, those still working having hours cut and losing benefits, pensions and health insurance.
Kind of a bleek picture, eh? Who knows, maybe things will turn around for our little town.
We have made progress here in SLT but we got lots more to do. OLS
Let’s see. Lawyers getting rich over the bodies of employees, investors, and creditors.
10,000,000,000.00 went up in smoke.
Mr. Greed also probably played more than a minor role.
No one seems to have asked the simple question as to why they took on that $ 10,000,000,000 part of the debt in the first place (?) – just because the money was there to take – knowing that if things didn’t work, we can just “discharge” what we won’t want to pay, or that we didn’t need to pay ?? . . .
That seems to be corporate strategy these days. . .
They paid too much for those 50 properties, could not handle their management, so someone else can now suffer for their ineptitude. . .or perhaps that was the plan all along ?
Mr Bowen you bring up an excellent point. In our society today a personal bankruptcy is considered almost shameful, yet corporate bankruptcy is considered good business and standard operating procedures for many companies. Such as Bain Capitol, a company founded by two time ex-presidential candidate Mitt Romney.