Vol. 8 • No. 1 • January 11, 2010 - Print This Issue
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Vol. 8 • No. 1 • January 11, 2010, PEOPLE
Jacobs Resignation Linked to Ho
Sudden exit of MGM Mirage exec Gary Jacobs may have been precipitated by regulators in New Jersey, who continue to scrutinize a deal he made with Macau's Pansy Ho.
Former MGM Mirage General Counsel Gary Jacobs, who resigned his post last month, may have done so to ease concerns of New Jersey gaming regulators about a link between MGM and the Ho family of Macau.
For several years, New Jersey regulators have been investigating a joint venture between MGM and Pansy Ho, daughter of billionaire Stanley Ho. The elder Ho has been accused of having ties to organized crime in China.
Though Nevada regulators approved the MGM-Pansy Ho partnership in 2007, New Jersey regulators continue to be concerned about the alliance, which enabled MGM to get a foothold in Macau's booming casino industry. They have recommended that MGM Mirage divest of its 50 percent stake in the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City. MGM co-owns Borgata along with partner Boyd Gaming.
Jacobs structured the China deal as MGM's general counsel. It includes payments to Stanley Ho's casino company in the form of a secondary license or "sub-concession," according to reports. Reports say Jacobs' departure might pave the way for a more favorable outcome in a New Jersey regulatory hearing.
