“The biggest change for the company over the past decade is that they’ve become quite a bite more disciplined,” says David Katz, an analyst at Jefferies, an investment bank. We needed somebody that was more conservative than I was.”īill Boyd (left), Las Vegas Mayor Oran Gragson (middle) and Sam Boyd celebrate the California’s opening on January 1, 1975.
“At the beginning of our existence, my dad and I were risk-takers, and you needed that,” says Boyd, a white-haired man with a gold, diamond-studded pinkie ring. With that in mind, he elevated the company president, Keith Smith, to CEO, giving himself a partner for the first time since the death of his father-the other cofounder of Boyd Gaming-in 1993. And since his actions had gotten the company into this mess, he reasoned, maybe he could use some advice on getting out of it. He shelved plans for luxury casinos, instead doubling down on adding budget ones across rural America. To stave off bankruptcy, Boyd was forced to make a number of humbling decisions. In 17 months, Boyd Gaming’s stock lost 94% of its value, falling to nearly $3 a share in November 2008. Both Atlantic City and Las Vegas had become increasingly saturated markets. The moves suffered from exceptionally poor timing.
