CLAIMS TO FAME
- Won Japan’s only IR license in April 2023
- Was on the opening team of The Mirage alongside Steve Wynn
A major cybersecurity incident that shut down large swathes of MGM Resorts’ US operations was not the way Bill Hornbuckle would have envisioned his year panning out, but at least the company enjoyed a year of prosperity in Asia.
In April, Japan’s central government announced that it had approved a bid by Osaka and a consortium led by MGM to develop a near US$10 billion integrated resort on Osaka’s Yumeshima island. While the lengthy approval process has seen the estimated opening date of the IR pushed back a year until 2030, it seems likely it will have a monopoly on casino gaming in Japan given that the nation’s only other bid, from Nagasaki and Casinos Austria, remains in limbo.
The MGM consortium officially signed its Implementation Agreement with Osaka in September, paving the way for development to begin before the end of the year.
Hornbuckle is also seeing positive results in Macau, where the company was granted an additional 198 gaming tables under the new 10-year concession it signed with the government in December. Those new tables saw local subsidiary MGM China become the first of Macau’s concessionaires to fully recover to pre-COVID mass GGR levels, while analysts expect the company to gain valuable market share over the months and years ahead.
Importantly, the cybersecurity issues that hit MGM’s US assets didn’t affect Asia, leaving the company to bask in the strength of the region’s ongoing recovery.
For the full list of 2023 Asian Gaming Power 50 winners, click here.
