As reported by local news, SJM Holdings‘ Grand Lisboa Palace (GLP)‘s president Paul Baker has stepped down from his post, after a four-year stint. His exit comes among recent high-profile exits from the city’s gaming operators amid the industry reshuffle and the lasting impact of the pandemic. For the time being, it remains unclear who is currently overseeing the operations of the resort.
In a statement, SJM has said the resignation of Baker, who worked for 11 years for Caesar Entertainment Corporation, will have “no impact” on the company’s operation. The gaming operator further clarified that the resignations of some employees were due to “respective personal reasons.”
Baker had been leading SJM’s Grand Lisboa Palace Cotai property since 2018. He was previously an executive vice president of Resort Operations for Wynn Macau for a year in 2013 and was a deputy COO at Genting Malaysia Berhad from 2014 to August 2018.
As reported by Macau Business, in addition to Baker, among those who left their positions at Grand Lisboa Palace recently are Vince Leat, vice president of loyalty marketing and customer relationship management, and Lu Tsai, vice president of casino marketing.
Wynn also saw a management reshuffle last quarter, seeing casino veterans step down – a change that occurred before the tender process for the gaming concessions. Previously, gaming expert Ben Lee, managing partner of IGamiX Management & Consulting, had told Macau Daily Times that with no clear end in sight to the prevailing current economic conditions, “many businesses are forced to restructure their costs towards survival mode.”
Gaming concessionaire SJM Resorts is bidding to secure one of the six new gaming concessions to be awarded by the Macau Government. The seven applicants for the 10-year six available concessions include the city’s six current operators –Wynn Macau, Sands China, MGM China, SJM Holdings, Galaxy Entertainment, and Melco Resorts– and a seventh company, GMM Limited, part of the Genting Group. The results of the public tender are set to be announced soon as the new concessions are expected to begin operating on January 1, 2023.
