Caesars Entertainment debuts new 11-member board of directors

Caesars Entertainment’s new board of directors includes four members of the previous board as well as representatives from Caesars investment groups and experts in distressed property management.

The new board:

James Hunt, chairman

Chief financial officer and executive vice president of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, 2003-2012. Currently on boards of Brown & Brown, The St. Joe Company, Penn Mutual Life Insurance, Nemours Foundation, and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Mark Frissora

Caesars board member since February 2015, currently serves as president and CEO. Former chairman and CEO of Hertz Global Holdings, and also the former chairman and CEO of Tenneco. Serves on the board of Delphi Automotive. Previously served on boards of Walgreens Boots Alliance, FMC Corporation and NCR Corporation, in addition to Hertz and Tenneco.

Thomas Benninger

Founder and managing general partner of Global Leveraged Capital. Served on boards of Revel AC, Squaw Valley Ski, Affinity Gaming and Tropicana Entertainment. Currently on boards of Video King and Truckee Gaming.

John Boushy

Founder of Boushy Consulting and co-founder and board member of ReelMetrics. Was adviser to The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, served various roles with Ameristar Casinos, The Promus Companies and Harrah’s Entertainment. Currently on boards of C2Rewards, City of Hope and Ameristar.

John Dionne

A distressed properties expert. Senior adviser to Blackstone Group and senior lecturer at Harvard Business School. Formerly with Blackstone and Bennett Restructuring Funds. Currently on boards of Cengage Learning Holdings, Momentive Performance Materials and Pelmorex Media.

Matthew Ferko

Another distressed properties expert and debt analyst. Formerly with Franklin Templeton Investments, Harbinger Capital Partners (formerly Harbert Management), UBS and ING Barings. Served on board of Chi Energy.

Don Kornstein

Founder and former managing member of Alpine Advisors. Served on boards of Caesars Acquisition Company, Gala Coral Group, Affinity Gaming, Bally Total Fitness, Circuit City Stores, Cash Systems, Shuffle Master, and Varsity Brands. Former president and CEO of Jackpot Enterprises and investment banker and senior managing director for Bear, Stearns & Co.

David Sambur

Current member of Caesars Entertainment board and senior partner of Apollo. Formerly with Salomon Smith Barney. Serves on boards of AP Gaming Holdco, CareerBuilder, ClubCorp, Coinstar, Diamond Resorts International, Rackspace, EcoATM and Redbox Automated Retail. Formerly on boards of Hexion Holdings, Momentive Performance Materials and Verso Paper.

Richard Schifter

Current member of Caesars Entertainment board and is a senior adviser at TPG. Formerly a partner at TPG and at Arnold & Porter. Currently serves on the boards of LPL Financial Holdings and American Airlines Group and on the board of overseers of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Also a member of the board of Youth, I.N.C. (Improving Non-Profits for Children).

Marilyn Spiegel

Formerly in human resources and operations at Harrah’s Entertainment. Former president of Wynn Las Vegas and Encore and five Caesars Strip properties since 2004. Currently on boards of Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada and Nicholas & Co.

Christopher Williams

Current member of Caesars Entertainment board and is chairman and CEO of Williams Capital Group and Williams Capital Management. Serves on boards of Cox Enterprises, The Clorox Company, Ameriprise Financial, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and The Partnership for New York City. Also chairs the board of overseers of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Formerly on board of Wal-Mart Stores.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.