Deep within the marble halls of the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas, past the whirring slot machines and the fine art gallery with its works by Renoir, Picasso and Degas, James Murren is reflecting on one of his more unusual visits to the gym.
The chief executive of MGM Resorts, the biggest casino group in the US, is an early riser and works out every morning. “Sometimes when we have big shot celebrities, we close the gym which can upset the other guests,” he says. “But I walked in one morning and there were all these guys in there wearing suits. And the president of the United States is there on a treadmill.” Barack Obama was in town for a campaign event and Mr Murren would later introduce the president on stage at Aria, one of the company’s 11 casino hotels.
We are sitting in his office at the Bellagio, which is notable for its walls of Jerusalem limestone and two antique slot machines, including one from the Prohibition era that dispensed mints instead of cash. His predecessor, Terry Lanni, used to have a Renoir from the company’s art collection hanging over his desk, but with Las Vegas in the middle of a new age of austerity, it is gone. “It was sold,” Mr Murren sighs. In its place is a more modest work by Richard Diebenkorn and pictures of the chief executive’s wife, Heather, and their two teenage sons.