Palms chooses new president

Joe Magliarditi, a veteran gaming executive and former president and chief executive officer of the Hard Rock Hotel, has been named president of the Palms.

The announcement Monday of Magliarditi's hiring comes three days after Paul Pusateri's departure was announced. In his role, Magliarditi will oversee all hotel and casino operations for the 1,300-room resort.

"We are thrilled to have Joe as part of our team," said Palms owner George Maloof. "We look forward to him being a part of the Palms' continued success."

His arrival also comes eight days after George Maloof reached an agreement to restructure his family's ownership stake in the resort.

The family now owns 2 percent of the decade-old hotel-casino. He turned majority ownership of the Las Vegas celebrity hangout over to private investment firms TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners LP.

Pusateri, a past executive vice president of The Venetian, joined the Palms in September 2009.

Magliarditi resigned from the Hard Rock Hotel in March after the property defaulted on $1 billion in loans and the operations were taken over by Warner Gaming LLC.

During his 18-year career as a senior gaming executive, he has also served as chief operating officer of M Resort, executive vice president and COO of Marnell Sher Gaming, and vice president of operations at the Rio.