Jim Murren figured the Las Vegas chapter of his gaming career ended five years ago.

In 2020, he left MGM Resorts International — a gaming giant where he spent 22 years, including 12 years as chairman and CEO, during which he oversaw the company’s expansion in Las Vegas, across the U.S. and in Macau.

In 2023, Murren sold his Las Vegas home, moved to Maryland and found opportunities as CEO of the Florida-based Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection and chairman of the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA) in the United Arab Emirates.

However, Murren, a 63-year-old East Coast native who spent 14 years as a Wall Street investment analyst before joining MGM as chief financial officer in 1998, was lured back to the Strip by the idea of helping repair Resorts World Las Vegas. The $4.3 billion hotel-casino that has been the subject of regulatory concerns, questionable management decisions and poor financial performance since its June 2021 opening.

Murren, in December, was named chairman of a part-time board of directors that would advise Resorts World’s newly hired CEO, Alex Dixon, on directional changes for the 3,500-room hotel-casino owned by Malaysia-based Genting Berhad.

As with MGM Resorts, Murren sees an opportunity for Resorts World to take the lead in a long-considered revival of the north end of the Strip — a topic that has been discussed for decades by tourism officials, casino operators and Las Vegas observers. 

The area — generally defined by everything between Desert Inn Road and Sahara Avenue — was often marked by unfinished projects, such as Fontainebleau Las Vegas, which sat 70 percent complete for more than a decade until its original owner returned to finish the hotel-casino. 

Other empty parcels include a small area fronting the Las Vegas Convention Center’s West Hall that could house a hotel and retail complex, 27 acres between the Sahara Hotel Casino and Fontainebleau that has been vacant for almost two decades after the Wet ‘n Wild water amusement park closed, and more than half of the 103 acres owned by billionaire Phil Ruffin that includes Circus Circus.

Murren said Resorts World is disconnected from other parts of the Strip because of vacant land.

The former Frontier site, which is south of Desert Inn and directly across from Wynn Las Vegas, is owned by Wynn Resorts. But the company said last week its focus is on a $5.1 billion property under construction in the United Arab Emirates — not on redeveloping the now empty Frontier parcel. 

Murren said Resorts World’s opening — which he attended as a guest — removed a blight covering the 88-acre site of the Rat Pack-era Stardust that was demolished in 2007. Resorts World replaced the planned $4.8 billion Echelon development that Boyd Gaming was building before the recession ended construction in 2008. The property sat untouched until Genting Berhad bought the site in 2013.

The openings of the West Hall in 2021 and Fontainebleau at the end of 2023, along with a renovation in 2019 of the Sahara, brought renewed life into the north Strip.

“I think everyone on the north end could benefit from more development,” Murren said in a January interview with The Nevada Independent. “There is a tremendous amount of opportunity at this property. We have the right person [Dixon] now in charge and our first order of business is creating the potential here. I do believe Resorts World can be key in the north Strip’s future.”

Almost 40 acres of Resorts World’s land is available for development. It has been discussed as a potential landing place for a 20,000-seat sports arena, although Murren said he believes Resorts World’s parcels could have multiple uses. 

“This property was master-planned for 10,000 hotel rooms, additional convention space and expanded retail,” Murren said. “There are 4 acres right along the Strip that is just landscaped. There is a lot we can do here.”

Murren sold his house in Summerlin in 2023 two years after leaving MGM. But he still considers Las Vegas his home and the part-time advisory role with Resorts World — the board is expected to meet quarterly — intrigued him. The position allows him to continue his full-time position with Ritz-Carlton and the UAE board chairmanship because its meetings are “episodic.”

“I’m very motivated by development opportunities,” Murren said of the north Strip.  

Turning his attention north

Murren watched and participated in the development of the South Strip, which Steve Wynn kicked off with the 1998 opening of the $1.6 billion Bellagio. 

He credited former Mandalay Resorts Group CEO Mike Ensign with creating the “Mandalay Mile” on the Strip’s southern end by building Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay. He said MGM’s neighboring hotel casinos profited by having the added attractions. (MGM acquired Mandalay Resorts in 2005 for $7.9 billion.)

MGM added its piece to the south Strip in 2009 with the development and opening of the $8.5 billion CityCenter complex, which Murren oversaw. He was also integral in MGM’s partnership with AEG in developing the $375 million T-Mobile Arena on the company’s land adjacent to ParkMGM and New York-New York.

Now Murren is turning his attention north, where he has some experience. 

One of his final acts as MGM’s CEO in 2019 was the sale of Circus Circus and its 103 acres on the north Strip to Ruffin for $825 million. Ruffin told Forbes in January that he wanted to sell the land for $5 billion. In an email exchange with the Independent this month, Ruffin said the land wasn’t for sale.

Murren said a sale of even a portion of the Circus Circus land “would be a shot in the arm for the north part of the Strip.” 

Former Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, now the president of UNR, said Murren is the right person to help steady Resorts World’s operations and lead a north Strip revival. 

Sandoval joined the Resorts World board last week after being lured to the position by Murren. He brought Sandoval to MGM Resorts in 2019 after his two terms as governor ended. Sandoval spent less than two years as the company’s president of global gaming development before leaving to apply for the UNR position.

Murren said in a statement the former governor “brings the expertise and energy necessary to elevate the property to the next level.” Sandoval said he received permission to serve on an outside part-time board through a letter from the chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

The board also includes former Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett, now a partner at the McDonald Carano law firm; longtime gaming industry human resources executive Michelle DiTondo, who spent 13 years at MGM; and Genting Berhad President Kong Han Tan. 

“I believe Jim is one of those iconic individuals who can give the north Strip a fresh eye and see the potential,” said Sandoval. 

Fixing Resorts World

Murren learned the financial and development intricacies of the gaming business from the late billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, one of the founders of modern Las Vegas — and MGM Resorts —  whose name is synonymous with some of the Strip’s most historic hotel-casinos. Kerkorian, who was an MGM Resorts board member and its largest stockholder, served as a mentor to Murren until Kerkorian died in 2015 at age 98.

One of the lessons Murren took from Kerkorian was that competition was good for the Strip. He said Kerkorian supported MGM selling the Desert Inn to Steve Wynn shortly after the company bought the developer’s Mirage Resorts — which included Bellagio — in 2000 for $6.4 billion. The Desert Inn land eventually became Wynn Las Vegas and Encore.

“We weren’t planning to develop the site and Kirk told me that Steve bringing his creative, intellectual and financial capital to Las Vegas was good for the Strip and MGM,” Murren said. “The philosophy that I have here is I don't believe helping the north end of the Strip is competitive to MGM. Whatever Resorts World does and others do helps the north end.”

He said the board’s initial focus is on the operations of Resorts World and what Dixon believes is the best course to move forward.

“Alex’s first order business is to understand the property operationally, get to know the men and women who work at the property and figure out what needs to be done from an entertainment perspective, a retail perspective and a gaming perspective,” Murren said. “We [the new board] want to help Alex [Dixon] achieve his goals.”

Burnett, who worked with Genting Berhad in a legal capacity and licensed several MGM Resorts projects as a regulator, interviewed Dixon when Genting was seeking a CEO and came away with the belief that Resorts World “found the right person” to lead the property. 

He said Murren’s vision for Resorts World and the north Strip is beneficial. 

“Having Jim, with his contacts and experience, will help in the process of turning the property around,” Burnett said.

Resorts World posted its worst-ever three-month financial period for the quarter that ended Sept. 30, 2024. Also, the property could be facing a hefty fine from allegations raised in a 12-count disciplinary complaint filed last August by the Gaming Control Board. The company was charged with allowing known illegal bookmakers to gamble millions of dollars at the Strip resort for more than a year. 

It’s expected the new board will want to settle the disciplinary matter, which would require an appearance by company executives — and possibly the board — in front of the Nevada Gaming Commission. The issues stem from the operations of the property’s initial president, Scott Sibella, who was fired in September 2023.

Burnett said the board, even in a part-time role, will have to be licensed by Nevada gaming regulators. 

Those who know Murren believe he’s the person to address any of Resorts World’s ills.

Alan Feldman, MGM’s longtime corporate spokesman, said Murren’s “Herculean effort” saved the under-construction CityCenter in early 2009. The project was facing bankruptcy when the recession caused financing to dry up. Murren was able to convince several banks to loan the project the funds to complete the development in the final hours.

“This is not overstating it at all,” Feldman recalled. “Jim had the financial acumen at that moment, which was obviously critical for the company and the state.”

Motivated by development

In February 2020 — an hour before MGM Resorts was set to release its 2019 earnings — Murren announced he would depart his positions as chairman and CEO when his contract expired at the end of 2021. The news shook up gaming industry observers and the investment community because the timing was unexpected. However, the announcement followed months of organizational cutbacks sought by investors and activist board members who wanted to change some of the company’s direction. 

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shortly after the announcement, it was revealed Murren would receive a separation package of nearly $32 million.

A month later, Murren decided to step aside from the company completely when the pandemic forced the 78-day closure of the state’s casino industry. MGM Resorts named Bill Hornbuckle as acting CEO but he was given the position full-time 100 days later.

Murren was asked by then-Gov. Steve Sisolak to oversee the state’s COVID-19 Response, Relief & Recovery Task Force, an effort to mobilize the private sector in assisting state agencies and the Nevada Health Response Center.

“He was instrumental in helping us get through COVID,” Sisolak told the Independent in a recent interview. “He was able to get us PPE [personal protective equipment] when we couldn't get it from anywhere else. He's got a lot to offer to Resorts World.” 

Sisolak and Murren remain friends. Their seats for the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces home games are a row apart. In 2023, Sisolak was a speaker as part of Murren’s induction into the American Gaming Association’s Gaming Hall of Fame.

Murren wasn’t sure Las Vegas was still in his future after his assistance during the pandemic ended. 

He sold his home in Summerlin in 2023 and landed his role with the Yacht Collection. The company offers seven-to-10-night voyages in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and Central America. The business currently operates two yachts for between 300 and 500 passengers. A third yacht will launch this year. 

Murren was named chairman of the UAE’s newly created regulatory agency that oversees the country’s fledgling gaming industry, which is expected to include casinos and a countrywide lottery. 

The part-time, seven-person board of directors meets periodically to vote on licensing recommendations and other regulatory matters investigated by the GCGRA, which has a full-time staff led by Kevin Mullally, a former U.S. gaming regulator and gaming company general counsel.

It’s unclear how many casinos will eventually operate in the UAE, but the GCGRA has already licensed Wynn Resorts for its $5.1 billion Wynn Al Marjan, which is expected to open in 2027 in Ras Al Khaimah.

Murren said there are no conflicts with his service on the GCGRA, adding that Genting Chairman K.T. Lim said the company does not plan to bid on a project in the UAE.

“I'm spending more of my time with Ritz-Carlton because we’re growing the business. The UAE board is ‘episodic’ for now,” Murren said, adding he was known in the region because he was MGM's CEO when the company entered into a non-gaming partnership in Dubai. 

However, he said if MGM were to seek a gaming license in the UAE, he might have to recuse himself from ruling on licensing.