By Ben Blaschke
Gaming industry veteran Mark Brown is set to announce that he is stepping down as Chairman of Imperial Pacific International, effective immediately.
According to a report in The Saipan Tribune, Brown has not returned to Saipan – home of IPI’s US$600 million Imperial Pacific Resort – since departing in December and is keen to spend more time with his family.
Contacted directly by Inside Asian Gaming, Brown confirmed his exit and said an official announcement would be made shortly. No announcement had yet been forthcoming at the time of writing.
Brown, the former President of Las Vegas Sands’ Macau properties who oversaw the opening of the Venetian Macao, joined IPI’s Saipan unit Best Sunshine as CEO in 2014 and oversaw its transformation from a seeming pipe dream to burgeoning reality. Among his major accomplishments was launching temporary Saipan casino Best Sunshine Live in 2015 which quickly gained international notoriety for the huge volumes of VIP play it reported.
Brown subsequently stepped aside as Best Sunshine CEO in February 2017 – around five months before casino operations were moved across to soft-opened Imperial Pacific Resort – to become non-executive Chairman of IPI.
IAG is aware that Brown was in Macau on Saturday.
