Las Vegas gaming execs give up paychecks during virus shutdown

By Bryan Horwath

Saturday, March 28, 2020 | 2 a.m.

With hundreds of William Hill employees out of work because of the coronavirus pandemic, one of the bookmaker’s top executives said he didn’t feel right getting paid.

“Last week, we made the painful decision to furlough over 600 people,” said Joe Asher, CEO for the London-based company’s operations in the U.S. “All the casinos are closed, not just here in Nevada, but everywhere. There’s just nothing for the people working in the field to do. In doing that, I just didn’t feel comfortable collecting a paycheck myself.”

So, Asher, who works out of Las Vegas, created a foundation to help furloughed employees and is donating his salary to it. Other employees who still have their jobs are being asked to give what they can, he said.

Asher said he grew up poor and knows what it’s like to struggle.

“I know what it’s like to not know where your next meal is going to come from or where you’re going to sleep that night. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be successful in business and in my personal life,” he said. “I never take my blessings for granted.”

Asher isn’t the only gaming company executive giving up their salary or making major donations during the crisis, which has shut down every casino in the state until at least mid-April.

Acting MGM Resorts International CEO Bill Hornbuckle said he would donate $100,000 to an emergency relief fund for MGM employees who are out of work because of the coronavirus crisis.

Wynn Resorts CEO Matt Maddox announced this week that he’s forgoing the remainder of his salary this year in lieu of company stock. Other Wynn executives and board members are giving up at least a third of their salaries.

“What we’re basically saying is let’s preserve cash to pay our people and we, as executives, need to be betting on the future of the company,” Maddox said during an interview Tuesday on CNBC. “We have runway, but every day we’re thinking about where we can save money. We wanted to find ways to start saving cash, and you start at the top, not the bottom.”

Wynn announced last week that it plans to keep paying employees for 30 days at Wynn Las Vegas and Encore, as well as Encore Boston Harbor.

Asher said he’s hoping life gets back to normal sooner rather than later.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that (Las Vegas) will emerge from this,” he said. “It’ll take longer, perhaps, to get going again than other parts of the country, but we’ll be bigger and better than ever. This is a great city.”