One of the gambling industry’s most powerful figures, MGM Mirage Chairman and CEO J. Terrence Lanni, said that he will step down from his executive posts, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Lanni is leaving on November 30, citing personal reasons. With recent scrutiny over inflated credentials on the resumes of top executives, Lanni found himself in a dispute with his alma mater about the accuracy of his academic credentials after questions were raised by the WSJ.
He will remain majority shareholder Kirk Kerkorian’s top man by remaining on the company’s board. Lanni leaves amid floundering revenues that have affected Las Vegas. MGM’s financial future remains unsteady as the company tries to secure financing to complete a massive condo-and-hotel project on the Las Vegas strip called City Center.
Lanni said he is leaving due to matters of lifestyle, citing the facts that his family lives in Pasadena, Calif., and he is turning 66 in March.
This is not the first time Lanni threatened departure. He quit the company for two months in 1999 and announced that he would leave again in 2006. However, he ended up extending his contract until 2010, saying he would retire at the end of that contract term.
The WSJ originally contacted officials at the University of Southern California, saying that it had no record that Lanni had earned a master’s degree in business administration from the school. However, MGM Mirage’s website says that Lanni holds an MBA in finance from USC. Lanni has joined boards and spoken at the school multiple times over the years and is currently a member of the Board of Overseers of USC’s Keck School of Medicine.
Barry Minkow, a private fraud investigator in San Diego, found the discrepancy.
“No [MBA] degree was conferred,” said James Grant, a USC spokespoerson, adding the school had completed a rigorous search of its records in response to the WSJ’s queries.
Another inaccuracy in the company biography states that Lanni earned a bachelor of arts degree in speech from USC when in reality, he earned a bachelor of science degree in business in 1965, according to Grant.
Lanni contends that he took classes at the university toward a degree but didn’t finish because he went to work. He said he was awarded an honorary degree from USC in 1992 from the business school. However, Grant said that the university’s list of honorary degrees did not include Lanni.
Still, the company stands by Lanni, saying they were unaware of the discrepancies. Gary Jacobs, a board member of MGM Mirage, said that Lanni did not leave because of academic uncertainties, but because he was ready to retire.