Terry Lanni didn't take a victory lap. He didn't stop for the applause and he didn't wait for the accolades. Instead, Lanni told the world on Nov. 13 he was retiring as chairman and chief executive officer of gaming industry giant MGM Mirage after 13 years at the helm. Five days later, the casino company's board of directors voted to have President and Chief Operating Officer Jim Murren fill Lanni's positions.

MGM Mirage boss Terry Lanni has resigned from the board of the American Gaming Association, the federal lobby that is headed by Harrah’s Entertainment Chief Executive Gary Loveman. The two chieftains are at odds over a proposal by the Nevada teachers union to raise by 3 percentage points the state room tax paid by tourists, with the money going specifically to education.

Las Vegas - In the late 1970s, a baby-faced executive named Terrence Lanni had a tough time persuading banks to lend millions of dollars to build hotels and casinos in this fabled gambling mecca. "It was very difficult to get a loan back then," says Lanni, who was the young chief financial officer of Caesars World at the time. "It's a lot easier now, I can tell you that." Today, the 64-year-old Lanni is CEO of MGM Mirage (MGM), the No. 2 gaming-industry company in the USA, and lenders line up for his business.

Stanley Ho (Founder and managing director SJM): The elusive billionaire had a 40-year monopoly on Macao gambling and remains one of the world's biggest casino operators, despite inroads by American companies, such as Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd., that have cut his market share nearly in half. Ho is countering with more elaborate casinos, including the Grand Lisboa, which debuted in February, and two outsized casino projects, Oceanus and Ponte 16.

There's a new name atop In Business Las Vegas' list of the highest-paid executives in Southern Nevada. Terry Lanni, chief executive of MGM Mirage, is No. 1 on the list, which appears in this edition. Lanni has been in the top 10 since 2002 when the list was first published, but this was the first year that he has reached the top spot.