Michael A. Leven
President and Chief Operating Officer
Las Vegas Sands Corp.
Mr. Leven has served on the Las Vegas Sands Corp. Board of Directors since 2004.
On March 11, 2009 he became the company’s president and chief operating officer and assumed responsibility for the overall operations of the company’s U.S. and international locations..
Mr. Leven is a veteran hospitality executive with 48 years of experience in the business and a distinguished and well-recognized record of success. He was formerly president and chief executive officer of US Franchise Systems, Inc., the company he founded in 1995, which developed and franchised the Microtel Inns & Suites and Hawthorn Suites hotel brands. He was previously the president and COO of Holiday Inn Worldwide, president of Days Inn of America, and president of Americana Hotels. He has also served on the board of directors of Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Hersha Hospitality Trust.
In addition to being a hotel industry icon and one of franchising’s most innovative leaders, Mr. Leven has served many industry organizations throughout his career. He co-founded the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, which started with 12 members in 1989 and now has more than 9,300 members, who combined own more than 22,000 hotels representing approximately $60 billion in property value. He is also the former international president of the Hotel Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI).
Mr. Leven is a recipient of the American Association of Franchisees and Dealers Lifetime Achievement Award and was previously named to HSMAI’s Hot List of 25 Most Extraordinary Sales & Marketing Minds in Hospitality & Travel. He has also received the American Jewish Committee Selig Distinguished Service Award, UJA Federation of New York Hotel and Hospitality Award, and the Georgia Hospitality & Travel Association Spirit of Hospitality Award.
Mr. Leven is a native of Boston, Massachusetts and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University and Master of Science from Boston University. He and his wife, Andrea, have three sons and five grandchildren.