Cliff Atkinson Out as President of Virgin, COO Lia Rispoli Steps In

By Scott Roeben, on December 09 2025
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The last, best hope for Virgin Hotels Las Vegas has been shown the door. Yes, it’s named “Virgin Hotels Las Vegas” despite there only being one of them. It’s sort of like when an individual refers to themself in the first person plural, “we.” We have no idea who would even do that, but it could happen. The first paragraph of a story is neither the time nor place to address WTF involving awkward affectation, mostly because there’s so much other WTF ground to cover here.

Cliff Atkinson is out at Virgin. Chief Operating Officer Lia Rispoli will take on the expanded role of President and COO for the doomed off-Strip resort.

It’s worth noting we are not going to waste time talking about the fact our band in high school was named Awkward Affectation, because there’s serious business to attend to here.

This isn’t the first time Cliff Atkinson has served as a sacrificial lamb.

So, Virgin.

The hotel-casino has struggled for years. The first glimmer of hope was sparked by Cliff Atkinson.

Atkinson saw the chaos of having multiple partners operating various aspects of the resort, and he took action to herd all the various cats.

Emblematic of that leadership was booting Mohegan Sun as the casino operator of Virgin.

Our recommendation to call the rebranded loyalty club “Hymen Rewards” was soundly rejected for some reason.

Someone else operated the hotel (Hilton), the theater (AEG Presents), you get the idea. Silos AF.

Betfred was supposed to operate Virgin’s sportsbook, but that was a debacle. William Hill finally took over the sportsbook, an initiative overseen by Atkinson.

The ownership of Virgin is as complicated as some of the operational partnerships.

Virgin is owned by JC Hospitality, LLC, a consortium that includes Virgin Hotels (part of Virgin Group), plus investors such as LiUNA Pension Fund of Eastern and Central Canada, Fengate Asset Management, Juniper Capital Partners and others.

The Virgin component is mostly a branding thing. Richard Branson isn’t really involved in Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. (Richard Branson recently lost his wife, so we are refraining from any snark out of respect.)

That’s the background.

Atkinson has been in the hospitality business for at least 30 years.

He was previously President and COO of Luxor, worked with Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and was General Manager of Gramercy Park Hotel, whatever that might be.

Atkinson was president of Fontainebleau before being unceremoniously removed from that position in the most classless way possible.

Virgin’s been fighting an uphill battle since before it was Virgin. It used to be the Hard Rock. Virgin opened on March 25, 2021 after a massive renovation.

Virgin has much potential.

Cliff Atkinson had a vision for Virgin and was actually making progress toward making those plans a reality?

Was he going to turn Virgin around? Probably not. It has built-in challenges.

Is firing Atkinson going to save Virgin money? Yes. But now what?

We don’t know Lia Rispoli, but COOs aren’t really known for being visionaries with big ideas, all due respect.

Rispoli has her work cut out for her, including lots of spaces that need tenants.

The biggest favor Rispoli can do in her expanded role is kill off Atkinson’s plan to bring back the resort’s Center Bar. Flushing money in pursuit of some magical time when Hard Rock was a destination casino isn’t the answer.

The answer is there might not be an answer.

We love Virgin, and want to see it thrive. But survival is probably the first priority.

We’re pretty sure Atkinson (and JC Hospitality) did some financial restructuring during his tenure, which avoided potential unpleasantness like a Chapter 11 (used by companies to get lenders and creditors off their back while they restructure debt).

We don’t get the feeling Virgin would go under, it’s more like treading water.

Virgin’s location is always going to be its biggest challenge. Proximity to the airport hasn’t really been a big plus.

Cutting the salary of a resort president isn’t going to right the ship.

As for Virgin’s gaming license, Atkinson was the primary licensee, but CFO Chad Konrad also holds a license. The pair became a business entity to run Virgin’s casino, C&C 4455 LLC. (Cliff and Chad. Get it?)

The best laid plans.

Cliff Atkinson doesn’t know what he’s doing next, but he’ll be missed at Virgin. He was well-liked by staff and has left an indelible impression on the place.

Fingers crossed for Lia Rispoli in her expanded role as Virgin’s President and COO. Fair warning: Whenever someone needs to be thrown under the double decker bus, presidents are often first on the list.