Speakers

Gary Loveman, Chairman, CEO and President of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.

Gary Loveman is Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.

A former associate professor at the Harvard Business School, Loveman joined the Fortune 500 company as Chief Operating Officer in 1998 and drew on his extensive background in retail marketing and service-management to develop and implement the gaming industry's most successful loyalty program, Total Rewards. Today, Total Rewards boasts more than 40 million customers and is largely responsible for the company's consistent same-store sales gains.

Since being named CEO in January 2003, Loveman has presided over a period of growth and profitability that culminated in Harrah's June 2005 acquisition of Caesars Entertainment, Inc. -- at $9.4 billion, the largest single transaction in the industry's history. In December 2006, Harrah's agreed to go private in a $29 billion transaction led by private equity firms Texas Pacific Group and Apollo Management Group.

Harrah's performance has led to its inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, a group of international companies noted for creating long-term shareholder value, for six consecutive years. It also earned Loveman the distinction of being recognized as the gaming and lodging industry's best CEO by Institutional Investor magazine for four consecutive years. As CEO, Loveman led the highly successful customer segmentation strategy of concentrating on attracting highly profitable, repeat midmarket gamblers instead of targeting high rollers or creating family friendly attractions. His strategy makes gaming, rather than hotels, performance venues or other associated ventures, the source for the vast majority of Harrah's revenues.

Loveman is the chairman of the American Gaming Association and an outside director of Coach, Inc. He also sits on the Board of Trustees at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston and on the Trust Board at Children's Hospital Boston. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from M.I.T., where he was an Alfred Sloan Doctoral Dissertation Fellow, and a B.A. in economics from Wesleyan University.

Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. is the world’s largest provider of branded casino entertainment with annual revenues of $9.7 billion. Harrah’s owns and operates nearly 40 casinos, six golf courses and various hotels on four continents, primarily under the Harrah's, Caesars and Horseshoe brand names.

Even though Harrah's is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, Loveman lives with his family and commutes from suburban Boston, Massachusetts.

Amedeo Carassai, Partner, Apax Partners

Amedeo Carassai joined Apax in 2003 as a Director with the responsibility of leading the development of the firm’s practice in Italy and Southern Europe in the Telecoms and Retail and Consumers sectors. Recent transactions lead by Amedeo include Sisal (a leading lottery and gaming operator in the Italian market, managing more than €5bn handles), Farmafactoring (the leading provider of factoring services to the National Healthcare Services, managing more than €3bn receivables) and TIM Hellas (the 3rd wireless operator in Greece, recently acquired by the Orascom Group).

Prior to joining Apax, Amedeo worked for Syntek Capital, a pan-European technology-focused Venture Capital for three years, as Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer, leading investments such as GivenImaging (a leading medical devices company based in Israel), MetiLinx (a leading middleware developer based in California) and Xtend Networks (a leading broadband equipment provider based in Israel).

Prior to joining Syntek, Amedeo worked for McKinsey and Company, the leading management consultant, for over eight years. He was a Partner of the Milan office and leader of the European Wireless Telecoms Practice. Main clients he worked for include Telecom Italia, Vodafone, Telefonica, Belgacom, CanTV, Turk Telecom, Olivetti, Siemens, News Corp, Alitalia, Italian Railways.

Stewart Kohl, Co-Chief Executive Officer, The Riverside Company

Stewart A. Kohl is one of two Co-Chief Executive Officers (Co-CEOs) of The Riverside Company, a global private equity firm founded in 1988 to invest in premier companies at the smaller end of the middle market. Throughout its history, Riverside has maintained a core philosophy of investing in smaller market-leading companies, enabling it to acquire more than 180 companies and to build nearly $2.0 billion of capital under management in North America, Europe and Asia. The firm has consistently generated superior returns for its investors, which include leading pension funds, endowments, funds-of-funds, insurance companies and banks.

Under the guidance of Mr. Kohl and Co-CEO Béla Szigethy, Riverside has expanded and now employs over 150 people in offices in 17 cities: New York, Cleveland, Dallas, San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Budapest, Munich, Prague, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Brussels, Madrid, Tokyo, Stockholm and Seoul. Recognized for their entrepreneurial accomplishments, the Co-CEOs were awarded the Ernst & Young Regional 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Financial Services Division.

Prior to joining Riverside in 1993, Mr. Kohl was a vice president of Citicorp Venture Capital, Ltd., the private equity arm of Citibank.

In addition to his work with Riverside, Mr. Kohl serves on the following boards of directors: Oberlin College, the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. He formerly served on the board of directors of ShorBank, America’s leading community development bank, and is now member of its Council of Advisors. He previously served as Co-Chair of the Building for Hope Capital Campaign of the Center for Families and Children. For the past nine years, he has been a “Heavy Hitter” participant in the Pan Mass Challenge bicycle fundraiser for the Jimmy Fund of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Mr. Kohl holds a BA from Oberlin College (1977) and resides in Shaker Heights, Ohio with his wife Donna where they enjoy spending time with their daughter and three grandchildren.