Misfire: Magna's Removal Of Raffetto Called Into Question
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Magna's Firing Of Raffetto Could Jeopardize
Laurel Park's Chances At Slots License |
Maryland Racing Commission Chair JOHN FRANZONE indicated that Magna's decision to fire President & CEO LOU RAFFETTO, who ran Laurel Park and Pimlico, "jeopardizes Magna Entertainment Corp.'s ability to secure a license for Laurel Park if the state referendum on slots passes next November," according to John Scheinman of THOROUGHBRED TIMES. Franzone said of Magna, "I think they're toast. I think they have made so many management faux pas and are losing money at such a high rate, I don't think (there is) any way anyone on the (State Lottery) Commission can say we should give slots to Magna." Franzone added that he called Magna Chair FRANK STRONACH and "pleaded with him to change his mind." Franzone: "I said, 'Frank, this is without a doubt the dumbest decision you will ever make, and you guys have made a lot of dumb moves.'" Stronach could not be reached for comment (THOROUGHBREDTIMES.com, 11/28). In DC, Andrew Beyer writes under the header, "With Raffetto Decision, Magna Misfires Again." It "is hard to imagine that any company would want to fire such an executive. But Magna is a highly bureaucratic organization, with everybody ultimately answerable" to Stronach. Stronach "makes most of the big decisions in the company (such as the disastrous one that ruined Gulfstream). People who are not team players -- i.e. those whose opinions differ from Stronach's -- have short professional lives, and the turnover in the organization is dizzying. The most recent chief executive [MICHAEL NEUMAN] lasted four months" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/30). Stronach "dismissed the criticism" of his move to fire Raffetto. Stronach: “One has different opinions and I respect opinions. What difference does it make? What difference should it make? I’m committed to horse racing; everybody knows that. I think that’s an artificial kind of hysteria.” He added of Franzone’s suggestion that Magna had hurt its chances of getting slots in Maryland, "If we don’t get it, we don’t get it. Everybody has been unhappy with the racetrack over the years" (THOROUGHBREDTIMES.com, 11/29).
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