James Murren

James Murren
Chairman and CEO, MGM Resorts International

Corporate Headquarters: Las Vegas, Nevada
Website: www.mgmresorts.com
Primary Business: Hospitality & Gambling
Revenues: $6 billion
Employees: 61,000

2011 CEO in Action

MGM Resorts International just enjoyed a milestone year for our Company’s Diversity Initiative, celebrating its 10th anniversary since launching it in 2000 as the gaming industry’s first formal diversity initiative.

We have a lot to reflect upon. Our anniversary event in October 2010 celebrated many of the largest accomplishments of our Initiative to date with more than 600 of our minority business partners, community leaders, and diversity advocates from across the country, in addition to hundreds of our employees. For example, today more than 61 percent of our 62,000 employees nationwide are minorities, marking the highest proportion of minority employees in the history of MGM Resorts.

Beyond our four walls, our Diversity Initiative has been impactful in our Company’s surrounding communities. Over the past 10 years, we have reached out to the minority business community to spend more than $1 billion in MWBDE purchasing contracts, and an additional $1.5 billion in minority construction and engineering services.

When I became Chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts in 2008, I committed myself to do more than merely continuing the tremendous legacy of diversity that our Company has built. Our Diversity Initiative is integral to the continuous evolution and advancement of our Company.

Diversity is much more than cross-cultural etiquette and political correctness. In today’s economy, every employee and every team in our multicultural, pluralistic workplace must be operating on all cylinders at all times. One of the most dynamic forces in our Company is the diversity of viewpoints and experiences of our employees, whose ethnic backgrounds are rooted in practically every corner of the Earth.

I work in one of the most competitive travel destinations in the entire world. The company that operates at the highest level, and achieves the greatest results, is the company whose teams are the most motivated, the most productive, the most innovative and the most engaged with the customer and with each other.

We recently set a goal to train an additional 4,000 managers in our Diversity Champions training workshop prior to the end of this year. We’ve graduated more than 11,000 Champions to date.

We also recently devoted new Company resources and staff to continuing to communicate and embed diversity principles in our culture of inclusion, collaboration and employee engagement.

And, our experience in diversity is playing a larger role than ever in our Company’s international operations as we continue the expansion of our famous brand names to new locations across the globe.

We are standing taller today, united in our diversity. Yet as far we have traveled with this Initiative, we recognize that we have many miles to go in our journey.

Education: Trinity College
First Job: Research assistant for institutional brokerage firm
What I’m Reading: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver, with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver
My Philosophy: As Theodore Roosevelt said, the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. Working hard, doing the very best you can and perseverance are the keys to success in any life endeavor.
Best Advice: Never give up and never give in when confronted with adversity.
Family: Wife of over 20 years; two sons, ages 12 and 15.
Interests: Sports, the arts, philanthropy
Favorite Charity: Nevada Cancer Institute