Leading gambling companies Caesar’s Entertainment, MGM Resorts International, and Las Vegas Sands have recently been spotlighted in the 2025 “Low-Wage 100” report. This annual publication by the Institute for Policy Studies and Inequality.org identifies S&P 500 companies that show the smallest median wages for their employees compared to the large earnings of their top executives.

The financial figures reveal significant disparities in compensation. In 2024, Caesar’s CEO Tom Reeg earned $18.4 million, while the average U.S. employee at the company received just $43,880, resulting in a salary gap of 419 to 1. MGM’s CEO Bill Hornbuckle earned $15.8 million, sharply contrasting the company’s median employee salary of $47,607, creating a 332 to 1 ratio. Meanwhile, Las Vegas Sands’ Robert Goldstein took home $21.9 million, dwarfing the $42,426 earned by the typical worker and leading to a 516 to 1 pay disparity.

These pay gaps have sparked ongoing criticism of the casino industry. Since 2019, the top executive pay at Caesar’s has more than doubled, surpassing the 40% wage increase seen among its workforce. Though MGM and Las Vegas Sands have also raised executive salaries at a faster rate than employee wages, their growth was less dramatic compared to Caesar’s.

Experts argue that this imbalance extends beyond optics. The report examines billions spent on stock buybacks which inflate share prices and executive compensation, while funding for employee wages and training remains insufficient. For instance, MGM invested over $9.5 billion in buybacks last year—more than twice what was spent on upgrading its properties.

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This uneven pay structure is not limited to major companies in the S&P 500. Smaller gaming firms reveal similar trends. Penn Entertainment reported a striking 734 to 1 gap, with its CEO earning $26.6 million and the average employee making $36,322. Boyd Gaming followed with a 304 to 1 ratio, and Golden Entertainment showed a 155 to 1 difference.

Industry critics suggest these pronounced salary gaps damage employee morale and complicate talent retention, ultimately hindering long-term growth. Calls for reform include proposals to increase taxes on companies with large pay disparities and to levy higher taxes on stock buybacks.

Despite these controversies, these companies remain among Nevada’s top employers and hold substantial influence within the global gambling market. Nevertheless, the study concludes that the industry’s focus on rewarding shareholders and executives over workers will likely persist without regulatory intervention.

Las Vegas Sands has contributed $100,000 through the Sands Cares global community engagement program to 100 Black Men Las Vegas in support of the organization’s youth mentorship, scholarship, and community service offerings.

The 2025 donation will enable 100 Black Men Las Vegas to offer new programs including a science, technology, engineering, and math initiative; the Pathways to Public Service program, which focuses on developing a pipeline of law enforcement and first responder professionals; and Realtist Academy, which prepares participants to become licensed real estate agents or mortgage brokers.

In addition, Sands Cares funding will help 100 Black Men Las Vegas pursue efforts to identify a permanent location for the organization.

“Sands has always understood our overall goal across all of our offerings, which work together to empower our youth and community members to be healthy, self-sufficient and successful. We’ve greatly expanded our reach over the past four years with Sands’ support, and the 2025 contribution is helping us grow current programs and introduce new initiatives to increase our positive impact even further,” Gentry Richardson, executive director of 100 Black Men Las Vegas, said.

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The Sands Cares contribution continues to help underwrite 100 Black Men Las Vegas’ youth leadership development programs, including the flagship Crossroads youth mentoring and life skills program for middle and high school students. Crossroads covers more than 30 critical social and emotional skills that equip participants to successfully engage in their education, professions, and community. In 2024, mentor programs served more than 1500 students in the Las Vegas area and helped students achieve a cumulative 20% grade point average increase over 2023.

Sands’ donation also continues underwriting of scholarships for local college students. Last year, Sands Cares funding contributed to a scholarship pool that cumulatively enabled 100 Black Men Las Vegas to distribute more than $80,000 in scholarships funds, and the organization aims to provide $100,000 in scholarships in 2025.

Finally, the Sands Cares contribution also supports direct community service programs, including a free monthly Virtual Youth Cooking Class and Thanksgiving with the 100 and Friends, the organization’s annual Thanksgiving dinner distribution event.

Sands’ partnership with 100 Black Men Las Vegas is aligned with the company’s focus on education and helping build the workforce of the future.

Las Vegas Sands was again recognized on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI), with placement on the DJSI World Index for the fourth consecutive year and the DJSI North America Index for the eighth time. Sands China Ltd., the company’s Asian subsidiary, was named to the DJSI World and DJSI Asia Pacific indices for the second consecutive year.

Sands and Sands China are the only two companies in the Casino and Gaming category listed on DJSI World this year, out of 19 companies invited to participate. Sands is the only company in the Casino and Gaming category listed on DJSI North America, and Sands China is one of only two companies in the Casino and Gaming category listed on DJSI Asia Pacific.

The DJSI World Index comprises global sustainability leaders as identified by S&P Global through the Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA). It represents the top 10% of the largest 2500 companies in the S&P Global BMI based on long-term economic, environmental and social criteria. The DJSI North America and DJSI Asia Pacific indices represent the top 20% of the 600 largest North American companies and the top 20% of the 600 largest companies in the Asia Pacific developed region in the S&P Global BMI based on the same criteria.

“Our recognition on this premier global sustainability benchmark, following our recent inclusion as one of Newsweek’s America’s Most Responsible Companies, underscores the impact of our corporate responsibility initiatives and ESG leadership. We aim to be the employer and partner of choice in our regions, a model corporate citizen working to ensure strength and resiliency of our communities, and the industry leader in environmental sustainability,” Patrick Dumont, president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands, said.

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Sands’ DJSI inclusions also reflect the company’s adaptability in aligning efforts and reporting to the major methodology changes and public disclosure expectations made for the CSA this year. The approach is reflective of Sands’ focus on transparency as defined by the major ESG authorities and a dedication to continuously expanding its impact.

With the goal of achieving measured, ongoing progress, Sands also has established 2021-25 ambitions in the areas of workforce development, Team Member volunteerism and carbon emissions reduction, mapping to its People, Communities and Planet corporate responsibility pillars.

Under the People pillar, Sands aims to invest $200 million in workforce development by 2025. As of 2022, the company had invested $56 million in workforce development initiatives, bringing its cumulative investment to $113 million since 2021, well past the halfway point. Sands is focused on building the workforce of the future by supporting the professional growth of its Team Members, advancing the skills of hospitality industry professionals as well as the local labor pool in its regions, and helping local businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, succeed.

Finally, Sands works to ensure the long-term environmental health of its regions through the Planet pillar, led by the Sands ECO360 global sustainability program. The company’s 2025 environmental ambition is to achieve a 17.5% reduction in carbon emissions. As of 2022, Sands had achieved a 50% reduction in carbon emissions from its 2018 baseline; however, the cumulative decrease reflected continued pandemic-related impact on property visitation. As business returns to more normal levels in 2023, Sands is continuing to aggressively pursue its low-carbon transition initiatives in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy and transportation.

The DJSI, including the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World), were launched in 1999 as the pioneering series of global sustainability benchmarks available in the market. The index family is comprised of global, regional and country benchmarks. The S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) is an annual evaluation of companies’ sustainability practices. It covers over 10,000 companies from around the world. The CSA focuses on sustainability criteria that are both industry-specific and financially material and has been doing so since 1999.

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