Steve Jacobs no longer with Sands China

Steve Jacobs was Sands China Ltd. chief executive for less than 15 months

Sands China Ltd. chief executive Steve Jacobs has left the Hong Kong-listed unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp. the company announced yesterday. According to Macau Daily Times’ understanding, Steven C. Jacobs, who is also the executive director of Sand China, was dismissed yesterday morning, ahead of the arrival of Las Vegas Sands Corp. chairman Sheldon Adelson.
Adelson is set to arrive in Macau tomorrow, prior to Las Vegas Sands’ July 28 board meeting to discuss second-quarter performance. Las Vegas Sands chief operating officer Michael Leven, who has already arrived in Macau, will be in charge of running the operations in the SAR while the company looks for a replacement.
The change in the leadership of the company was confirmed in a statement released by Sands China later in the day. “Michael Leven, who currently serves as a special advisor to the Sand China Board of Directors, has been named the company’s acting chief executive officer.  He replaces Mr. Steve Jacobs who is no longer employed by the company nor a member of the Sands China Board of Directors,” the statement said.
For now, Leven will work with a special committee of the Sand China board in selecting a permanent chief executive officer. “He will divide his time between Las Vegas and Macau while the search is being conducted.  Mr. Stephen Weaver, who was previously Sand China’s president of Asian development, will also serve as an advisor to Mr. Leven during his tenure as acting chief executive officer,” the company added.
In the statement, Adelson says the change to the management team “would have no material impact on the company’s operations in Macau or its ability to complete the Sheraton/Shangri-La/Traders (parcels five and six) development currently under construction there”.
The dismissal comes roughly two weeks after the appointment of another executive director. Early this month, Toh Hup Hock was appointed as an executive director of Sand China, operators of Sands casino and The Venetian resort in Macau.
Steve Jacobs, 47, was president, chief executive officer and executive director of Sand China. Jacobs was president-Macau of Las Vegas Sands Corp from May 2009 and had been working with Las Vegas Sands Corp since March 2009. Last year, Jacobs received an annual compensation of USD 1,303,683 (MOP 10.24 million), including a bonus of USD 433,333, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.
This is not the first time that a big executive from the company in Macau has been axed. In April last year, Mark Brown, who had been the top casino boss at The Venetian in Macau since September 2006, was also dismissed.
Overall, Jacobs is now the fifth high-level officer to leave the company following Las Vegas Sands president William Weidner, Las Vegas Sands executive vice-president for the construction division, Brad Stone, and Mark Brown. More recently, in June, Stephen Weaver left the company due to “personal commitments”. However, now that Steve Jacobs is out of the picture, Weaver will step back in as an advisor.
The news also comes after Sheldon Adelson commented on remarks made by Jacobs in a June interview with Dow Jones Newswires. Referring to comments by Jacobs that the first casino to open in Japan is expected in 2014 to 2015, the gaming tycoon said the time frame is about right, but made it clear that moves into Japan were not within Mr. Jacobs’ “bailiwick,” indicating the direction of regional development will be led by Las Vegas Sands management.
“I’ve said I’d like to bring our subsidiary (Sands China) in as a partner if we do go in Japan but I didn’t ask Steve to make prognostications about when Japan is going to be open,” Adelson said.