3 top executives at Venetian Macao lose jobs amid shake-up at parent

Heads have started to roll at the Venetian Macao following last month's boardroom shake-up at Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Mark Brown, the president of the 3,000-room Venetian Macao as well as the Paiza VIP gambling operations at both the Venetian and Sands in Macau, was one of three senior executives in the city who were abruptly relieved of their positions late on Wednesday.

A two-decade veteran of the gaming industry who started as a card dealer in Atlantic City and worked his way up to become chief executive of Trump Hotels and Casinos, Mr Brown was hired by Las Vegas Sands in Macau in April 2006.

Also making an exit this week were the Venetian's vice-president of gaming operations, Vincent Mascio, and Lien Ming, the vice-president of international casino marketing at the property, who worked closely with its VIP junket agents.

Both Mr Mascio and Mr Lien were hired after Mr Brown was appointed. The trio were the most senior gaming employees at the Venetian Macao, Las Vegas Sands' top property by both revenue and profitability.

'This change does not impact on our Macau operations,' the company said in a statement yesterday. 'We remain fully committed to our business strategy in Macau.'

Pending an announcement of Mr Brown's replacement, the company said Len DeAngelo, the newly appointed senior vice-president of Asia operations, would serve as acting president of the Venetian.

The changes in Macau follow a series of departures by several executives in the past month. Las Vegas Sands announced last week that executive vice-president Bradley Stone quit on March 18. His resignation followed the departure of president and chief operating officer Bill Weidner two weeks earlier.

Long-time hospitality industry veteran Mike Leven was brought in to replace Mr Weidner, who left after citing 'junkyard dogfights' with chairman, chief executive and majority owner Sheldon Adelson.

Days later, board member James Purcell resigned, saying he disagreed with the way Mr Weidner's departure had been handled.

'History will show that these changes represented a moment in time where we embraced our new adventure and moved forward with purpose and optimism,' Mr Adelson wrote in a letter to staff on March 26.

'These are uncertain times in our industry and we will likely face more challenges in the days and weeks to come ... this company will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to manage through these challenges and lead us to the brighter days that are certainly ahead,' he wrote.