Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. announced Chief Financial Officer Bill Clifford will retire in August but will remain in his current role until May 4, when he will become a senior advisor to GLPI. Steven Snyder will serve as interim chief financial officer. GLPI officials said the company will work with a nationally recognized firm to conduct a search for Clifford’s replacement.
Clifford helped found GLPI, the gaming industry’s largest real estate investment trust, in 2013, as a spin-off from Penn National Gaming. He served as chief financial officer at Penn National for more than 12 years. Prior to joining Penn, Clifford served as the chief financial officer at Sun International Resorts in the Bahamas. He also held positions with several Las Vegas Strip resorts. His 30-year career in the gaming industry began as an agent in the audit division of the Nevada Gaming Control Board in Las Vegas and Reno.
GLPI Chief Executive Officer Peter Carlino said, “During Bill’s tenure, he was instrumental in the exponential growth of Penn National Gaming and GLPI’s emergence in 2013 in a tax-free spin-out from Penn. On behalf of the board and everyone at the company, I would like to thank Bill for his dedication to the company.”
As of the end of March, GLPI owned the real estate associated with 38 casinos and leases 20 of the properties to Penn National, 15 to Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. and one to Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Illinois. Two casinos, located in Baton Rouge, La., and Perryville, Md., are owned and operated by GLP Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of GLPI.
