Andrew W Scott
CEO
Inside Asian Gaming
Inside Asian Gaming’s CEO first entered a casino in 1986, fell in love with the surrounds and has been around them ever since. Andrew founded World Gaming Group and launched WGM in 2009, took over IAG in 2015, debuted a third magazine called High Life in 2016 and a fourth, South China Elite, this year. He ran the Ho Tram Poker Room in 2015 and is a regular commentator in the media on all things gaming. Named the 2014 Macau Person of the Year, Andrew is also a regular consultant to institutions investing in Asian gaming stocks, a fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Directors, President of the Macau Taxi Passengers Association, a member of the Portuguese and English Press Association of Macau and a permanent member of the Macau Gaming Management Association. If that’s not enough, he’s even completed all the coursework of Master’s Degree in International Integrated Resort Management at the University of Macau, and will complete his thesis in 2018.
Ben Blaschke
Managing Editor
Inside Asian Gaming
Ben began his career as a sports journalist in Sydney in 1999 before his interest was piqued by the TV poker shows that frequented the airwaves late at night. He soon found himself not only playing the game but writing about it too – taking on the role of Editor for PokerNews Australasia and subsequently visiting Macau for the very first time in 2008. It was during this trip Ben learnt that a midday walk from his base at the old Grand Waldo to Cotai’s only integrated resort at the time, the Venetian, was a shockingly bad idea. Nevertheless, when he was offered the opportunity to immerse himself in Asia’s gaming hub as Managing Editor of WGM in early 2013, he didn’t hesitate. Ben has since added IAG (as well as daily industry e-newsletter IAG Breakfast Briefing, luxury magazine High Life and South China Elite) to his list of responsibilities, allowing him to delve even further into this incredibly fascinating industry.
Muhammad Cohen
Editor-At-large
Inside Asian Gaming
Muhammad Cohen has been covering business in Asia since 1995, focusing on the casino business for the past decade. He’s interviewed gaming’s best and brightest, been publicly upbraided (at least once, unjustly) by them and in turn has keenly assessed what they’ve produced. His experience as a diplomat and city planner help him place gaming policies, projects and destinations in the broader urban and geopolitical context of Asia’s increasingly complex web of competing domestic and international interests and imperatives. As a former baseball writer, working with some of the game’s top statistical analysts, he brings a keen appreciation of the power and limits of numbers to paint a picture that may be incredibly accurate but also multi-dimensional
Professor Desmond Lam, PHD
Acting Program Director of Hospitality and Gaming Management
Faculty of Business Administration, University of Macau
Professor Desmond Lam is a life member of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge. He has been one of the judges for the International Gaming Awards (London) since 2008 and an academic affairs advisor to the Macau Gaming Management Association since 2012. He has written and presented extensively on gaming-related issues and his articles are featured in premier trade publications. Desmond is author of the book Chopsticks and Gambling, which examines the little-known world of Chinese gambling from historical, cultural, psychological and social perspectives. He is the recipient of several research and industry awards including the Cambridge Clare Hall Fellowship and the Emerging Leader trophy at the 2016 Asia Gaming Awards. Throughout his career, Desmond has lectured in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau and Malaysia. He has conducted numerous university courses and executive workshops in gaming, tourism and hospitality.
Rui Pinto Proença
Corporate and Gaming Practice Partner
MdME Lawyers Private Notary
Rui specializes in corporate mergers and acquisitions, heading MdME’s practice in those areas. He regularly acts on mergers, acquisitions and other corporate transactions, boasting an enviable track record across a range of different industries. He also advises corporations, financial institutions and private equity funds on a broad variety of corporate matters, including restructurings, debt issuance, regulatory compliance and strategic advice at a board level. Rui often advises issuers with Macau interests in relation to listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. He is a key contact in MdME’s gaming industry practice, where he provides corporate and regulatory assistance to junket operators, gaming equipment manufacturers, service providers and gaming concessionaire’s equity holders. He also integrates the company’s insurance industry panel of experts regularly advising a number of sector players at transactional, contractual and regulatory levels.
David Green
Principal
Newpage Consulting
David Green is founder and Chairman of Newpage Consulting, a company he established in Macau early in 2010. Previously he was Director of the Gaming Practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers (Macau) Limitada. An Australian citizen, he is also a Permanent Resident of Macau. He retired as a Partner of PwC in 2004, but rejoined in 2005 to assist in the further development of the firm’s presence in the Asian gaming industry. He has lived in Macau for more than 14 years and worked with the SAR Government in relation to the liberalization and regulation of the casino industry. David is both a qualified lawyer and accountant, with considerable experience in gaming, including seven years (1995 to 2002) as a member and Chairman of the Independent Gambling Authority of South Australia, which regulates the Adelaide casino, bookmaking, community-based machine games, sports betting and racing industries. He is a former Commissioner for Consumer Affairs in South Australia, in which capacity he represented the state in negotiations for Australia’s new Competition Law. David holds a Masters degree in Law from the University of Melbourne, an MBA with Honours from IMD, Lausanne, and a Commerce degree, also from the University of Melbourne. He was admitted to legal practice in Australia in 1977. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Public Accountants (Australia) and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Michael Zhu
SVP, International Operations Planning & Analysis
The Innovation Group
With nearly 20 years of experience in the gaming, leisure and hospitality industries, Michael Zhu joined The Innovation Group in 2014 where he applies a comprehensive analytical skill set while exploiting his unique cultural context and leveraging his in-depth development and operational experience in the related sectors. Michael is Vice Chairman of the Macau Gaming Information Association (MGIA). His main focus with The Innovation Group is on mid and large-scale IR development and operations in the US, Asia-Pacific and European markets. Michael also expanded his horizons during the GFC as a Leadership Development Associate with Las Vegas Sands Corporation, where he oversaw a broad array of projects to establish and enhance financial planning and analysis for the opening of numerous Sands China integrated resorts in Macau and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore among others. He holds a Master of Business Administration in Hospitality Management from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Peking University in China. He was a Fellow of the United States National Committee on US-China Relations in Washington DC and of the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.
To see the full list of 2017 Asian Gaming Power 50 winners, click here.
