Out of the frying pan and into the fire! This is the motto of Ameesh Patel, and the way he likes to live his business life. Patel is the managing director of Miura Holdings, a multi-purpose investment vehicle focused on gaming, hotel and food & beverage activities. His desire to carve his own path, the executives that have shaped him and the lessons that he has learned along the way have positioned him as an emerging leader in the gaming industry.
Patel’s career in international development has taken him across the world with long-term stretches in Las Vegas, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Hong Kong. He has been involved in a diverse scale of projects ranging from small-scale casinos in Europe to large integrated resorts in Asia.
Along the way, he gained the sponsorship of senior leadership. Patel explains, “I was fortunate in that I had a tremendous amount of responsibilities at an early stage in my career and was able to see projects from inception through to opening.”
Having these opportunities and responsibilities proved to be the catalyst, and later, the driving force for Patel. In addition to working in interesting locations, he has also worked for some of the best operators in the industry, including Las Vegas Sands and Melco Crown Entertainment. Patel believes that to become an emerging leader in the industry, it is important to spend significant time exposing yourself to all facets of the gaming sector.
“The types of companies and their respective integrated projects can help expand your core competencies,” he explains. The integrated resort model creates many diverse streams of cash flow, and through the planning of such large-scale projects, Patel was able to expose himself to VIP marketing, retail, food & beverage, entertainment, hotel and casino operations.
Prior to starting Miura Holdings with original partner John Lin, Patel spent a large portion of his time in Asia. He co-founded SilkStar Global Marketing Limited, a junket operator focused on high-value players that generated over US$1.3 billion in rolling chip volume in 2011-12. Patel also served as vice president of development for Melco Crown Entertainment. In this position, he was part of the development team that created the City of Dreams in Macau, a $2.4 billion integrated resort.
Prior to Melco Crown Entertainment, he served as director of development for Las Vegas Sands. Patel stated that for any young person in the industry, it is not only critical to seek out leadership roles, but also to seek out mentors and guidance from people around you.
“I was fortunate to have the sponsorship of senior leadership at Melco Crown Entertainment and Las Vegas Sands and to have worked side-by-side with some immensely talented executives,” says Patel. “These individuals played a valuable role in my own personal development.”
Moving forward, Patel is very much interested in furthering his development through Miura Holdings. By way of example, Miura has co-invested in over 20 food and beverage outlets with the Lev Restaurant Group. Lev owns and operates numerous outlets across the Las Vegas Strip including innovative concepts such as Lobster ME and I Love Burgers.
Patel also serves as an adviser to Joey Lim, chief executive officer of Donaco International Limited, a public company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. He works closely with Lim in seeking out and exploring casino expansion opportunities for Donaco. Donaco recently opened the Aristo International on Vietnam’s northern border with China.
