PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR
Melco Resorts and Entertainment
PRESIDENT AND MANAGING DIRECTOR
Melco International Development
DIRECTOR
Studio City International Holdings
POWER SCORE: 735
POSITION LAST YEAR: 26
CLAIMS TO FAME
- Key adviser to Melco Chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho
- Former investment banker who joined Melco in 2016
IT’S BEEN A ROUGH RIDE for Evan Winkler since being appointed President of Melco Resorts and its parent firm Melco International in September 2019, with most of his tenure dominated by the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet he must be doing something right.
Having now filled his current role for more than three years and with the company for over six – he joined from global investment bank Moelis & Company in 2016 – Winkler is deeply embedded in the Melco corporate structure, as evidenced by the US$5 million worth of shares he was granted in September for his recent contributions.
Certainly he has plenty on his plate right now. Charged with overseeing the daily operations of the company’s properties globally, including Macau, Manila and the Mediterranean, he has two major IR openings in his sights, with Macau’s Studio City Phase 2 and City of Dreams Mediterranean in Cyprus both due to open their doors in 2023.
Meanwhile the company’s traditional Macau base continues to be battered by China’s COVID-19 restrictions at a time when operators are working hard to win new 10-year concessions under the government’s re-tender process.
If he can make it through the next 12 months unscathed it will be a job well done.
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