Top gaming executive dies

LAS VEGAS - Arthur Goldberg, president and chief executive officer of Park Place Entertainment, died early Thursday from complications due to bone marrow failure. He was 58.

Described as a leader and a visionary in the gambling industry, Goldberg was responsible for building the casino giant Park Place Entertainment Corp. of Las Vegas into the industry's largest.

''Certainly Arthur was one of the icons of the industry,'' said Ed Rogich, vice president of International Game Technology and a longtime family friend. ''He was instrumental in bringing the gaming industry to where it is today.''

Megaresort developer and longtime competitor Steve Wynn - a past target of Goldberg's barbs - praised Goldberg's force of will in a statement.

''This energy and courage allowed him to build a great company and a legacy,'' Wynn said. ''All of us in the gaming industry will miss the show.''

Goldberg, who died at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, split his time between Las Vegas and New Jersey.

The Park Place board of directors announced it would meet later Thursday to begin the search for a new CEO.

Park Place is the world's largest gambling company. It owns, manages or has an interest in 28 gambling properties that include more than 28,000 hotel rooms. Park Place properties include Caesars resorts in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Lake Tahoe as well as Paris/Bally's and the Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas.

The company's day-to-day operations will continue to be managed under the direction of Park Place's four senior executives - the same team that ran Park Place during Goldberg's previous five-month medical absence in 1999 with pneumonia, the company said in a statement.

''We've known he's been ill, but we were not aware it was of life-threatening nature,'' said Frank Schreck, a top gaming attorney who worked closely with Goldberg after the executive came to Las Vegas in the 1980s to pull Bally's out of bankruptcy.

Schreck described Goldberg as an attorney turned entrepreneur who took over his father's trucking business in New Jersey before trying his luck in Nevada.

Park Place Chairman Stephen F. Bollenbach will provide general oversight while maintaining his role as CEO of Hilton Hotels Corp.

''Arthur M. Goldberg was a true leader, visionary and builder of great companies. He has left behind the biggest, best and most financially healthy gaming company in the world,'' Bollenbach said.

''He was a great friend to me and I will miss his warmth, energy, commitment and leadership.''

Because Park Place was not operated as a personality-dominated corporation, industry experts called Goldberg's death a personal loss.

''I don't think it will cause any big shakeups in the industry or any disruption at Park Place or Hilton,'' said Bill Thompson, a gaming industry consultant and professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Last month, Fortune Magazine reported that Goldberg planned to step down as CEO by the end of 2001. Park Place executives denied it. They did, however, admit Goldberg was looking for someone to succeed him as president.

The magazine said Goldberg responded tersely when asked about his health. ''It's OK. Things wear out as you get older.''

The magazine reported that Goldberg had plans to name a president from inside the company within the next few months, mostly likely one of his executive vice presidents, Wallace Barr in Atlantic City, N.J., or Mark Dodson in Las Vegas.

Fortune, like Barron's, crowned Goldberg the new king of the gambling industry because of his rapid-fire deals that included Hilton Hotels Corp. spinning off its casino business into Park Place Entertainment in 1998; Park Place's simultaneous acquisition of Grand Casinos, operator of Mississippi casinos; and Park Place's $3 billion acquisition in 1999 of Caesars World.

On the Las Vegas Strip, Park Place controls the new Paris hotel-casino as well as three older but strong performers in Bally's, the Flamingo Hilton and Caesars Palace. The company is selling the Las Vegas Hilton.

Fortune said Goldberg's intense focus on quality and cost controls produced better profit margins than its closest competitor MGM Mirage.

Goldberg is survived by his wife Veronica, four children and six grandchildren.