BROADCASTS.com

b'

There\\u2019s little question that 2020 will long be remembered as a year of crisis for the casino industry.

Commercial gaming revenues in the U.S. were down 79 percent during the second quarter when compared to Q2 2019, a fact that made IAC/Interactive\\u2019s August announcement that it was purchasing 12 percent of hospitality and gambling giant MGM all the more headline-grabbing.

\\u201cWe think we found a once-in-a-decade opportunity to find a meaningful position in an iconic brand,\\u201d explains IAC/InterActive CFO Glenn Schiffman, who says IAC\\u2019s balance sheet remains flush with cash (more than $3 billion) after the recent spinoff of online dating site Match.com.

\\u201cWe believe that Las Vegas will come roaring back, and this comes back to how IAC likes to invest: We like massive addressable markets with tailwinds from offline to online, and that\\u2019s what we see with gaming,\\u201d says Schiffman, who is no stranger to industries in crisis.

Back in September of 2008, Schiffman was head of investment banking for Lehman Brothers\\u2019 Asia-Pacific business when the firm filed for bankruptcy due to its part in the subprime mortgage crash.

Schiffman, along with other top Lehman partners, helped to manage the sale of Lehman\\u2019s Asian business to Nomura Securities.

\\u201cIn times of crisis, you have to separate the urgent from the important because in a crisis everything appears urgent but not everything is important,\\u201d explains Schiffman, who says that he learned just how important being able to separate the two was when the clock was ticking in the wake of the Lehman bankruptcy and his team was seeking a resolution that would best serve Lehman\\u2019s Asia workforce. (Episode 440)

\\u201cWe saved every single job in Asia\\u2014and that was 3,000 jobs, including my own,\\u201d comments Schiffman, who adds that the Lehman bankruptcy, among other things, revealed how during a time of crisis an individual\\u2019s character becomes more evident.

\\u201cCrisis doesn\\u2019t define character, crisis reveals character,\\u201d says Schiffman, who, after joining Nomura, went on to help establish and build the bank\\u2019s North American investment banking division. \\u2013Jack Sweeney\\xa0