Gary Loveman

Gary Loveman is an American business executive and former academic. He is the current Chief Executive Officer of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. and has held the position since 2003. Before joining Harrah's as Chief Operating Officer in 1998, Loveman graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Connecticut's Wesleyan University in 1982, spent two years at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, running regression analysis on the impact of the burgeoning budget deficit on interest rates and was a professor at the Harvard Business School; he also has a Ph.D. from the MIT Sloan School of Management. [ [http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2004/03/08/363688/index.htm Teacher's Bet A former professor at Harvard Business School, Gary Loveman is taking Las Vegas to school. As the CEO of Harrah's, he's building what will soon be the U.S.'s largest gaming company-all by simply treating gamblers as shoppers. By Julie Schlosser - March 8, 2004 ] ]

As CEO, Loveman has concentrated on attracting average gamblers to Harrah's casinos with a direct mail marketing and customer loyalty program, Total Rewards, instead of targeting only high rollers or creating family friendly attractions. His strategy makes gaming, rather than hotels, performance venues or other associated ventures, responsible for the vast majority of Harrah's revenues. [ [http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2004/03/08/363688/index.htm Teacher's Bet A former professor at Harvard Business School, Gary Loveman is taking Las Vegas to school. As the CEO of Harrah's, he's building what will soon be the U.S.'s largest gaming company-all by simply treating gamblers as shoppers. By Julie Schlosser - March 8, 2004 ] ] [ [http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/oct2006/pi20061003_769710.htm?campaign_id=tbw Harrah's: Long Odds on the LBO ] ]

Under Loveman, Harrah's has grown into the world's largest gaming corporation. He has pursued several major acquisitions as CEO, including Harrah's 2005 purchase of Caesars Entertainment, the owners of Caesars Palace. [ [http://money.cnn.com/2004/07/15/news/fortune500/harrahscaesar/ Harrah's buys Caesar for $9.4B - Jul. 15, 2004 ] ]

Harrah's operates from Las Vegas, Nevada, but Loveman commutes from suburban Boston, Massachusetts. [ [http://www.slate.com/id/2163603?nav=ais Can commuting CEOs succeed? - By Daniel Gross - Slate Magazine ] ]

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