Executive Bio

Richard Goeglein is a highly regarded and experienced hospitality industry executive. He has extensive experience in operations, development, and turn-around management within the restaurant, hotel and gaming sectors.

In the earlier stages of his career, Richard was focused within the Food and Beverage Industry and became CEO of several restaurant companies. He successfully combined the Orange Julius, Love’s Family Restaurants, Original House of Pie’s and Will Wright’s Ice Cream chains to form Uniworld Foods, Inc., a key subsidiary of the NYSE listed International Industries, Inc. This was followed by four years as Chairman and CEO of Hungry Tiger Restaurants, where he doubled the size of the company and led its successful IPO.

Goeglein joined W.R. Grace & Co., headquartered in New York City. During his four years at Grace, he became a Corporate Vice President and the Chief Operations Officer of the Consumer Services and Products Group. This Group operated 57 businesses in the United States, Ireland, The United Kingdom, Europe and the Far East, generating some $1.6 Billion in revenue.

Goeglein left W.R. Grace to join Holiday Inns, Inc., where he was an EVP, Director and a member of Office of the President. During his ten years with Holiday, he oversaw the divestiture of a number of non-core entities, notably, Trailways Bus Line, Delta Steamships, Inn Keepers Supply and HiNet (an early entrant into global teleconferencing). Richard led the team that acquired Harrah’s and became their CEO, remaining an EVP and Director of Holiday. During his five years as CEO of Harrah’s, he led their rapid expansion and created the world’s largest gaming company, delivering over half of Holiday Corporations world-wide net income.

Mr. Goeglein was President, Chief Operating Officer and a Director of Holiday Corporation (the parent corporation of Harrah’s Hotels and Casinos, Holiday Inns, Embassy Suites, Residence Inns, Hampton Inns, Crown Plazas, Homewood Suites). 

Following his departure from Holiday, Goeglein was active in remedial management and turn-around activities, including the restructure and repositioning of Dakin, one of the largest plush toy design, development, and distribution companies in the world. He was also personally active in the development and management of a variety of projects for the casino and hospitality industry, including The Dunes in Las Vegas and the Sky Ute Lodge and Casino in Colorado. He served as President and Chief Executive of Aladdin Gaming Holdings and Aladdin Gaming LLC, where he was instrumental in securing $600 million of financing, creating the operating team, and building and opening the 2700 guestroom resort.

Richard and his wife Andrea acquired, owned and operated two Choice brand hotels in Arizona.

Currently, Richard Goeglein is a Strategic Partner of Return on Efficiency, LLC, an entity focused on a Holistic Risk-Sharing Approach to Business Transformation and Turnarounds. He also currently serves as the Lead Director of the Board of Directors of Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. and is a member of its Executive and Compensation Committees.

Richard has previously served as a Director of the following organizations: Harrah's College of Hotel Administration at University of Nevada, Las Vegas; AST Research; Platinum Software; Boomtown, Inc.; Hollywood Park; Holiday Corporation; Harrah’s Hotels and Casinos; Residence Inns; the Sammy Davis Jr. National Liver Institute; the Gaming Oversight Committee for Marriott Lodging International and the Culinary Institute of America, where he remains a Fellow of the institute. He holds a MBA from Stanford University and a B.S. from the University of Wyoming.