Caesars Adds Two Directors with Ichan Ties

Posted on: March 18, 2025, 02:39h. 

Last updated on: March 18, 2025, 02:39h.

  • Caesars adds two directors from Icahn Enterprises
  • Financier took new stake in gaming company almost a year ago

Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR) announced today it added two members to its board of directors, both of whom hail from Carl Icahn’s Icahn Enterprises.

Carl Icahn Caesars Entertainment board
Investor Carl Icahn. Two employees of his Icahn Enterprises joined Caesars’ board of directors. (Image: Getty)

Jesse Lynn, general counsel of Icahn Enterprises, and Ted Papapostolou, chief financial officer of that company, are the new Caesars directors. Those additions bring the casino operator’s director slate to 12, 10 of whom are classified as independent. Chairman Gary Carano and CEO Tom Reeg are the directors that are not independent.

I would like to welcome Jesse and Ted to the Board. Jesse and Ted bring diverse and relevant experience that will assist the Board in maximizing value for all shareholders,” said Reeg in a statement.

The appointments arrived about 10 months after it was revealed Ichan took a new position in Caesars. At that time, the investor said the stake was relatively small and that he was not interested activism — the investment style for which is he known — at the gaming company.

Icahn May Be Changing His Activist Tone on Caesars

Activist investors can take a variety of approaches at the companies of which they’re shareholders. Angling for board seats and pushing for transactions that create shareholder are among the most common avenues pursued by activists.

Although Icahn said last year that he wasn’t considering activism at Caesars, he know controls at least a pair of board seats. He also mentioned the possibility of working with the gaming company’s executive team to identify transactions that could boost shareholder value.

“I have great respect for Tom Reeg and the senior management team and what they have accomplished since the merger in 2020,” said the investor in the press release. “We look forward to working with Tom and the Board to maximize value for all shareholders, including by exploring strategic alternatives for the Company’s underappreciated digital business.”

The fate of Caesars Digital has been widely lamented in recent months with management clearly unhappy that markets aren’t giving the stock appropriate credit for the strides made at the iGaming and online sportsbook unit. Analysts note that Caesars Digital doesn’t command  a premium multiple on par with pure play digital sportsbook operators and when that segment is stripped out, it’s clear the company’s core land-based casino business trades at obvious discounts.

Caesars, Ichan Share History

Last year’s headlines regarding Icahn’s Caesars investment and today’s news about Lynn and Papapostolou joining the board are eye-catching because Icahn was largely viewed as the architect of Eldorado Resorts’ $17.3 billion 2020 takeover of “old Caesars” — a deal  that created the largest casino operator by number of properties.

This time around, Ichan is unlikely to seek transactions of that magnitude, but pushing Caesars to unload its online gaming unit could be to investors’ liking.

Earlier this year, Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli estimated Caesars Digital is worth $4.4 billion, implying that if that figure or something close to it can be extracted in a corporate transaction, the move would go a long way toward creating value for shareholders and reducing the operator’s debt burden.