Las Vegas Sands Corp. said President and Chief Operating Officer Michael Leven will stay for almost two more years, extending his contract until November 2012 as it expands in Asia and builds a senior management team.

The Las Vegas-based owner of the Venetian and Palazzo resorts is seeking new development opportunities in Asia and Europe, Leven said in an interview.

 

Leven’s contract may remove some uncertainty at a growing company that has lost or fired chiefs in its three biggest markets of Las Vegas, Macau and Singapore in two years. Leven, 73, who replaced William Weidner in March 2009 after conflicts between the former president and billionaire Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson, is a hotel executive who has been on the casino operator’s board since 2004.

 

“The job’s not done,” Leven said in an interview. “We made some mistakes the last time, and I want to avoid those going forward.”

 

Adelson, who loaned his company money two years ago to eliminate bankruptcy fears, opened the US$5.5 billion ($7.17 billion) Marina Bay Sands casino resort in Singapore in phases starting in April. Las Vegas Sands restarted its mothballed expansion in Macau, China, the world’s biggest casino center. Adelson fired Steven Jacobs, the chief executive officer of Hong Kong-listed unit Sands China Ltd., in July.

 

“20 months ago the company was teetering, and all the conversations were ‘how are you going to manage your covenants?’” Leven said. “Today we’re loaded with cash, our places are doing well, but we need more corporate executives.”

Sands recently hired a human resources chief and will add companywide heads of departments including sales, casinos, and design and construction within months, and they will build their own teams, Leven said. He wants to identify his replacement within a year.

 

Leven said he’s creating global standards and developing compensation and staff retention plans “that make us look like a real company, as opposed to just a lot of buildings.”

 

Las Vegas Sands fell US$2.23, or 4.4%, to US$48.42 on Nov. 12 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have more than tripled this year.

 

Leven founded US Franchise Systems Inc., the hotel company that developed and franchised the Microtel Inns & Suites and Hawthorn Suites brands, Las Vegas Sands said last year.

 

His almost 50 years experience in the hospitality industry includes positions as chief operating officer of Holiday Inn Worldwide and president of Days Inn of America. Leven has served on the board of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. and Hersha Hospitality Trust.

 

“I’m not a hit and run guy,” Leven said in the interview. “My history is to stay after I fix things and make sure they stay fixed.”