It was never Hubert Wang’s intention to enter the gaming industry, he tells Gambling Insider. “Just like many things in life, it was by chance that I entered the industry.” At the time, the internet was new. The 1990s called for the thorough reading of classified newspaper ads and dropping resumes to job postings. Stumbling upon Caesars (at the time, Harrah’s) which offered “the right job opening at the right time,” Wang found he was just the man for the job.
“The rest is history, as they say.”
MGM President and COO Wang stands today as a gaming industry stalwart – holding one of the most important positions within Macau’s casino industry. And yet it was a move to America that truly set him on the path to where he is today. Wang recalls: “When I finished my undergraduate study from college, I worked in Shanghai for a while. China was going through rapid economic expansion and social changes in the ‘80s and ‘90s thanks to its open-door policy. But I believe going to America presented me with a totally new set of career opportunities that were very different from the ones that I would have had, had I opted to stay in China. Looking back at my career path, I enjoyed all the things that I did or was a part of. I really appreciated all the opportunities presented to me.”
I always remind myself never to overestimate my own capabilities, nor to underestimate the role that luck played in my career
Coming to America
In the 1990s, Macau’s gaming market was influenced by expanding recognition and interest in American culture, which too was impactful for Wang when he first moved to the US. Globalisation and the influx of American media into China made America the trending new place to visit for Chinese students, and young people wanting to explore the world and study internationally.
Wang was one of them.
“Personally, there was definitely an initial shock.” he admits when describing his initial experience in the States. “For a while, I had to adapt myself to a very different cultural environment and a very different social system. I had my fair share of struggles along the way in interacting with people, not so much with the language, but rather with the culture and the customs.” Wang made friends along the way, people who showed him the ropes and made adapting to a new environment easier. Still, in Wang’s eyes: “had there been no adversities, I would’ve never been the person I could be.”
Wang first entered the gaming market after being hired by Harrah’s over 25 years ago. “It was a growth period of the riverboat markets in the US, with new jurisdictions popping up in many states. During the same period, there were a lot of new project undertakings on Indian reservation land throughout the country. I did a lot of investment analyses on projects and gave recommendations to the company’s top leadership, to which sometimes they listened and sometimes they disagreed!”
During his time with the company, Wang was able to progress to property-level CFO. The role was one that gave Wang “excellent experience in developing my leadership skills in managing big teams with a large number of people.” Although he admits working at a property level was different to working in a corporate office due to the change in priorities and focuses of day-to-day operations.
From here, Wang went on to work as Corporate VP of Planning and Analysis for Las Vegas Sands before arriving in Macau. It was for this ability to experience both markets that Wang has expressed particular gratitude: “My experience in the US also afforded me the opportunity to participate in Macau’s economic expansion and transformation over the past two decades. In a way, I think I got the best of both worlds – US as well as China (through Macau).”
Overall, Wang describes the skills he gained from his time in the US as “critical for business success as well as career success.” Working in various financial positions, he “learned to use analytical approach in framing and solving problems” as well as skills in data gathering and data analysis. Despite all this, Wang does not chalk his success up entirely to skill – he also thanks his timing and good luck (luck is always good in gambling...).
The perfect storm
Being in the US and China – and being there during the period he was – created the perfect storm to propel Wang’s career. In his own words: “I was fortunate in several aspects.” The first was the aforementioned growth of riverboat gaming in the US, as well as the development of large-scale luxury casino resorts. These new ventures created jobs. A lot of jobs. That also meant it required more people to manage them.
Secondly, his work at Harrah’s gave Wang opportunities to mingle with the big boys, C-suite execs and board members, all at an early stage in his career. Meeting with CEOs and CFOs to discuss revenue forecasts put Wang front of mind when senior leadership were recruiting for new roles. Off the back of this was Wang’s third point, in that he had: “Bosses who were genuinely interested in making me successful.” This, combined with his own work ethic, allowed the stars to align and create steady progress for Wang throughout his career.
Yet, despite all this: “I always remind myself never to overestimate my own capabilities, nor to underestimate the role that luck played in my career.” As part of his time in the US working with Las Vegas Sands, Wang participated in the establishment of the Venetian Macau and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore as part of the pre-opening team. “The job at Sands allowed me to get very familiar with Asia’s top gaming markets and their dynamics. That experience also helped me in my later decision to join MGM China and to move to Macau.”
When I walked around the property, people greeted me, but they were also looking for assurance. They wanted to know where their future would hold
MGM China takes off
Wang came to MGM China in 2011 as CFO, taking on additional responsibilities as the years went on before being appointed as President in 2019, and President and COO in 2020. Even before settling into the role, his experience at Las Vegas Sands gave him a familiarity with the inner workings of gaming in Macau, allowing him to hit the ground running in the managerial positions he entered with MGM China. “It has been a unique and rewarding journey marked by many milestones and several business cycles,” he tells Gambling Insider. “The key milestones at MGM China that I was part of included the company’s IPO in 2011, the expansion of MGM Macau in 2012, the opening of MGM Cotai in 2018 and the 10-year new concession awarded at the end of 2022. “They were important time points throughout the growth of the company as well as my own career.”
In his current position as President and COO, Wang describes one of his favourite aspects of the job as being the characters he has the opportunity to meet. “I can meet a lot of interesting people, including very successful businesspeople, celebrities, community leaders, politicians, diplomats etc. In talking to them, I can really broaden my own knowledge and thought horizon.”
Despite the glitz and glamour of gaming, there have been notable challenges along the way Wang has learned to work with during his tenure as President. Talent acquisition and retention across sales, marketing, project management and operation have presented a challenge in Wang’s view, although this challenge paled in comparison with another huge hurdle: the global Covid-19 pandemic. “A lot of expatriates left Macau during Covid. Particularly now with all the diversification projects committed under the new concession agreement, the city doesn’t have enough talent to manage and operate the projects.”
The need for resilience
With a career in gaming spanning over 25 years, Wang has been a first-hand witness to the growths and declines of the market. He has seen struggles brought upon the market by everything from financial collapses to global pandemics, and has seen the market bounce back time and time again. “I have witnessed several business cycles with significant corrections,” he explained. “The first one was the subprime crisis in 2007 and 2008. I was still with Las Vegas Sands at that time but spent a lot of time in Asia working on the pre-openings of Venetian Macau and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. And Venetian Macau opened right at that difficult time. The second correction started in summer 2015, mainly because of liquidity drying up on the junket side of the business. These two corrections each lasted for one to two years. Then came the Covid-19 induced correction for three years.”
As President in 2019 and President and COO in 2020, Wang was put into a position that had yet to be experienced in the modern age: guiding a major Integrated Resort company through a global pandemic. “In challenging and tough times, we often say we need to get prepared for the worst-case scenario. But what if the worst is worse than you ever expected and is getting even worse day after day?”
This was the stark reality that faced Macau businesses during Covid-19. The initial belief that the pandemic would only be a short-term disturbance, not unlike the SARS outbreak in the early 2000s, quickly diminished, with further reports coming in of outbreaks, lockdowns and rising death counts. China, more than other countries, was impacted particularly harshly by Covid-19. For businesses across the globe, the pandemic meant reduced income and thus reduced capacity to keep and pay staff. “It was really about survival. You cut back all you could other than the absolute necessities to make the cash on hand last as long as possible.
“We had around 10,000 employees right before Covid. We had to release some with severance and asked the remaining employees either to take no pay leave or to reduce their work hours. Understanding the situation, almost all team members cooperated. But, when you had no customers inside the property, you could feel the anxiety in the air.” Wang described the feeling of walking around near-empty MGM China properties, greeted by those seeking assurance from a C-Suite company member, assuring staff not only of their jobs but of the industry as a whole.
“When I walked around the property, people greeted me, but they were also looking for assurance. They wanted to know what their future would hold. I always looked into their eyes with a smile to let people see my hope and confidence were alive. It goes without saying that throughout Covid, the communication with and the support from the Board, the Government, the community and the banks were of paramount importance, as all stakeholders are in this together. It reminds me of a quote by Winston Churchill, ‘if you’re going through hell, keep going.’ Indeed, keep the faith that the darkest hour is just before the dawn.” Despite the conditions thrust upon the market by Covid-19, gaming in Macau has been able to bounce back, with the market today close to returning to pre-pandemic levels. As of reports from December 2023, accumulated gross revenue in Macau across gaming operations for the full year was up 334% year-on-year, for a total of MOP$183.1bn (US$22.8bn). “The market has been very resilient,” says Wang, reflecting on not only the Covid-19 era but his career as a whole.
“In the past 15 years, roughly 1/3 of the time was in the down cycle. But 2/3 or majority of the time, the market was on the upswing. And even more importantly, the underlying business structure shifted.”
According to Wang, the market shift away from being VIP-driven and junket dominant, to mass-segment driven, has made for a more sustainable Macau market. This shift, combined with the experiences Wang underwent during the Covid-19 pandemic, has made this business cycle invaluable for Wang and is something he also discussed in a Huddle interview last year. “It’s fair to say I learned how to be an effective leader more in the trough than at the peak of the business cycles.”
My experience in the US also afforded me the opportunity to participate in Macau’s economic expansion and transformation over the past two decades. In a way, I think I got the best of both worlds
What’s next for Macau?
Macau’s resilience gives Wang enthusiasm for its future prospects. “The demand for casino gaming entertainment is not going to diminish. On the contrary, with more comprehensive diversified non-gaming offerings, Macau will become more attractive than ever as a leisure destination. Gaming revenues will likely continue to grow as a result of the simple function between supply and demand.”
Wang is also a firm believer in Macau’s need to diversify, rather than embrace the high gaming concentration it has seen. Indeed, he expresses confidence in Macau’s desire to diversify its offerings. As markets grow, diversification in products is natural and a necessity to sweep up additional market share, though Wang also expressed the importance of not placing all your eggs in one basket.
After all, according to Wang: “certitude doesn’t mean certainty,” and having been at the company a little over a decade, there is still room for unexpected change. “In the end, time and consumers will be the judges to tell the market viability of various diversification efforts. Ten years is not a long period of time. There will be certainly progress made towards greater diversification, but to what extent is hard to predict. Not every project will be successful. Some will fail.”
A lot of expatriates left Macau during Covid. Particularly now with all the diversification projects committed under the new concession agreement, the city doesn’t have enough talent to manage and operate the projects
Being the boss
Keeping a gaming company afloat throughout Covid-19 was challenging enough, especially when considering the level of land-based revenue generated by MGM China. Doing so requires specific skills that Wang has shown a capacity to deliver. But can this be said of other executives?
In his previous Huddle, Wang discussed the topic of listening to colleagues and taking time with key decision-making. When Gambling Insider asks if this is something he has seen applied effectively in the industry or not, Wang knowingly points out that, for the most part, executives will have attended business schools or participated in executive training or coach programs to learn “the dos and don’ts in making business decisions.” In Wang’s eyes, most executives understand the theory behind business and try to apply what they have learned to business scenarios. Retreats among key execs and brainstorming sessions provide spaces in which decisions can be discussed openly and communally, looking for “the wisdom from the crowd.”
Yet, in practice rather than just theory, there are still many hurdles that can befall a C-Suite executive. Egotism, narcissism and a distaste for those with opposing views can affect a person when put in a position of authority. “Ironically, very often success can breed a sense of invincibility and overconfidence. One becomes fond of hearing his or her own voice.”
An elevated ego combined with business authority can result in a company’s decision quality going into decline when only one voice can be heard. For Wang, therefore, it is crucial to avoid these behaviours. “I believe humility and humbleness can go a long way in helping business leaders improve their own odds of continued success. Being humble and level-headed in your decision making means learning from others.” For Wang, his inspiration was found in Charlie Munger, the investment and business partner of Warren Buffet who passed in late November 2023 at the age of 99. Munger’s talks and books provided wisdom that made him a “better thinker and more effective executive.”
“He was a wise person with first-class business and investment acumen based on common sense, vicarious learning, reverse thinking and mental models across multiple disciplines. I learned a lot from his way of looking at things,” Wang comments. One example of Munger’s teachings Wang draws from is the importance of convenience. To humans, convenience is a survival need – a way to conserve energy. When analysing this teaching, the reality for Wang was clear: “Yes, smiles and greetings are nice. But will that alone assure you of returning customers? It won’t.”
From this, Wang emphasises the importance that comes with catering to your customers, giving them what they ask for in a way that is simple and efficient even if this means a solution is less convenient on the business end. “In operations, there are hundreds if not thousands of things we can do to make it convenient for customers. This is a continuous improvement process, and no improvement is too small to make. In our industry, the time customers save due to good service at their fingertips will instead be spent most likely on enjoying our products. The better the customer experience, the more time they will and can spend with us and the higher revenue the business can receive in return. It is just as simple as that.”
A final word
Wrapping up our conversation with Wang, Gambling Insider looks ahead, asking what the future holds for MGM China – and what Wang’s goals are moving forward.
For stakeholders, the goal is to create value and return the company to profitability. While the market is mostly out of the woods in terms of the impact of Covid-19, its impact still lingers. Moreover, losses from this period will need to be recouped and the balance sheet must be re-strengthened. However, this is not the only demographic Wang intends to benefit in the future.
“For the Macau Government and community, it’s about fulfilling the commitments of diversification and adapting to new market trends and demand along the way.” Finally for the staff of MGM China, Wang hopes to create more internal career development opportunities. To do so among local staff, forming new business leaders, will allow MGM China to thrive in Wang’s opinion. This will also help with the prior issue of talent shortage, setting MGM China and the Macau gaming market as a whole up for continued and stable growth.
And stable growth is just what the doctor ordered, given Wang knows firsthand just how many peaks and troughs gaming can endure.
