Alex Dixon understands the significance of his appointment as chief executive officer of a megaresort on Las Vegas Boulevard.
Alex Dixon understands the significance of his appointment as chief executive officer of a megaresort on Las Vegas Boulevard.
When Dixon’s late grandmother arrived in the city in the early-1950s, she found work as a housekeeper but was not allowed to use the front door of the hotel-casino where she was employed. Today, Ernesten Sewell-Cooks’ grandson is the new man in charge at Resorts World Las Vegas, a $4.3 billion property at the north end of the Strip.
The 44-year-old Las Vegas native is acutely aware that he is the only Black chief executive of a casino-hotel on the Strip.
“I’m unique but I’m not special,” Dixon said during a wide-ranging interview with the Review-Journal shortly after taking the helm at Resorts World. “I pinch myself every day I walk in the building because I’m living the American dream.”
Sewell-Cooks passed away just a few days into the new year and the family recently laid her to rest. But she knew all about Dixon’s big news.
“It’s beautiful…we got to share (this) with her,” he said. “It’s one of life’s full-circle moments. I am a product of the community, and I mean the community in the greatest sense of the word.”
From Durango to the C-suite, a Vegas story
A graduate of Durango High School, Dixon earned a bachelor’s degree from Howard University before becoming an investment banker for financial firms such as J.P. Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.
The third-generation casino worker — his father also worked in Las Vegas casinos — eventually gravitated toward the gambling and hospitality business. At Caesars Entertainment, where Dixon worked for nearly nine years, he was part of the opening day executive team at Horseshoe Baltimore Casino in Maryland. He later went to work for MGM Resorts International and was general manager of the MGM Springfield casino-hotel in Massachusetts when it opened in 2018.
In April 2019, Dixon was tapped to lead the Circus Circus hotel-casino, which was operated by MGM Resorts at the time. His relatively brief tenure at Circus Circus coincided with two life-altering events: the $825 million sale of the property to billionaire Phil Ruffin and COVID-19.
The first meant finding new career opportunities, which he eventually did with the Dubuque Racing Association, a nonprofit based in Iowa that operates the Q Casino & Resort, where he worked for the last three-and-a-half years.
‘Bigger than me’
But it was the casino industry’s response to the global pandemic that laid the foundation for where Dixon presently sits.
In March 2020, Dixon was named to the Nevada governor’s COVID-19 task force, where he formed a bond with Jim Murren, the former chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts. The two executives were part of a larger coordinated effort designed to safely and efficiently reopen the state’s economy. Murren, the seasoned industry veteran who was running the county’s largest gaming and hospitality company at the time, proved to be something of a mentor to the younger Dixon during their time on the task force.
Dixon says he is appreciative of Murren and others who believed in and guided him throughout his career arc.
“I’ve been coached, mentored, and developed in large ways by…(people) who don’t necessarily look like me, but they have poured into me in a way that I’m so grateful,” Dixon said when asked his thoughts about being the highest-ranking Black casino executive on the Las Vegas Strip. He later added, “I think it’s a celebration for our community, period. Coming back (to Las Vegas) is bigger than me, because ultimately, I want to make sure that people from every walk of life can see or have a connection with some element of my story, and that may help to inspire them to dream big and think about how they can make their mark.”
In January, Genting Berhad, the Malaysia-based owner and operator of Resorts World, announced the formation of a four-person board of directors that would be chaired by Murren. The other members are: A.G. Burnett, former chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board and gaming attorney; Michelle DiTondo, a longtime human resources executive who worked at MGM and Caesars; and Kong Han Tan, Genting’s president and chief operating officer.
Genting also announced Dixon as CEO of the property the same day.
“As Resorts World Las Vegas continues to establish itself as the premier resort destination in Las Vegas, we are excited to welcome this group of industry leaders overseeing and guiding the leadership team to deliver unparalleled guest experiences while fostering our commitment to compliance,” said Kok Thay Lim, chairman and CEO of Genting Berhad, in a statement on the hirings. “With over 40 years of collective experience in the global gaming and hospitality industry, we are confident that Alex and Jim, alongside the board, will help drive the company forward in pursuing our strategic goals for years to come.”
‘Turning the page’
The two former pandemic task force members are, again, facing a daunting, but not impossible, mission.
Since opening in 2021, Resorts World Las Vegas has struggled to meet expectations, both financially and, allegedly, as a responsible gaming license holder in the state of Nevada.
The property’s opening day president, Scott Sibella, departed in 2023 after his connection to an illegal bookmaker while president of MGM Grand casino-hotel became public. Sibella’s legal and regulatory punishments included fines, federal probation and the loss of his gaming license, none of which was related to his time running Resorts World.
However, in August, the Gaming Control Board filed a 12-count complaint against Genting and Resorts World, accusing the casino of failing to properly adhere to anti-money laundering regulations during Sibella’s tenure. The matter has yet to be adjudicated by the Nevada Gaming Commission, but the NGCB has recommended significant fines and possible license revocation.
This past summer resulted in the property’s worst financial quarter in two years, with year-over-year revenues declining more than 20 percent. Hotel occupancy and the average daily room rate also dipped for the quarter.
Dixon said his new responsibilities include having proactive discussions with regulators to resolve the matter while also taking steps to improve internal operations and prevent future problems.
“What we’re doing here today is acknowledging the issues of the past, taking account for them and making sure that we put the policies in place to make sure that the issues that have been widely talked about never happen again,” Dixon said. “We are infusing our culture with compliance, and we are turning the page.”
Bet on us
In writing the next chapter in the Resorts World story, Dixon said he hopes to have buy-in from stakeholders across the board, including guests, locals, employees, regulators and shareholders. To that end, he is pushing a new mantra at Resorts World — bet on us.
“I think it’s important that we take a long-term view of this story, because that’s what our ownership group is doing. They’re taking the long-term view that owning 85 acres on the Las Vegas Strip,” is a smart play, he said.
To that end, Dixon has been prioritizing an essential element of the operation that is critical to its success.
“There’s so many opportunities that it’s important that we take one step at a time, but the main thing that I’m focused on is really helping us at our core business, which is gaming,” he said.
The property is in the process of hiring a chief gaming officer.
Expanding the property’s footprint, either through additional convention space or hotel room product, is not out of the question either, Dixon says, although neither is presently in the works.
“We have a tremendous meetings business based upon the space that we have. But if we had more convention space today, I think we would quickly be the dominant meetings location on the Las Vegas Strip,” Dixon said. “We have 40 acres of undeveloped land, and so if I had a wish list, we today would be breaking ground on more convention space.”
‘Not hard to find’
Ultimately, Dixon said he will gauge success by two metrics.
“We want to have a great, thriving team who focuses on the customer experience,” he said. “We want to be the employer of choice, the place to be, both for our employees as well as our customers.”
The second goal is providing a financial return to investors, he said.
“We want to make sure that we’re able to deliver the economic return that’s commensurate with the investment in which we’ve gone through,” he says, which means “develop(ing) a coherent strategy and execution plan to deliver upon the investment that has been made in within us.”
As he settles into his new role, Dixon said he sees opportunities everywhere he looks. But he knows it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
“It’s going to take time, but the beauty of it is that we can control our own destiny by enacting a great business plan to build conviction for ourselves and others, and to continue to invest within our property,” he said. “We are open for business. We’re not hard to find, as Deion Sanders says.”
