New CEO at MGM Mirage

An MGM Mirage spokesman said last week that Lanni remembered receiving an honorary MBA degree in 1992, when he was given an alumnus of the year award by USC's business school.

A spokesman for the university said Lanni took classes toward the degree from 1965 to 1967, but never finished, and the business school hasn't awarded an honorary master's degree since 1933.

Murren said Lanni's influence would be important to the company as it moves forward and said he'll model his own leadership on that of the man who led the company from a one-casino operation to become the largest operator on the Las Vegas Strip.

"He's a great manager and mentor of people and I hope I can be the same," Murren said.

Kirk Kerkorian, the billionaire investor who holds a majority stake in MGM Mirage, said in a company release that MGM Mirage will now benefit from a succession plan more than two years in the making.

"Jim is a remarkable and multifaceted leader in whom I have the utmost confidence," Kerkorian said.

MGM Mirage shares rose 41 cents in aftermarket trading after closing at $10.65, up 7 cents or 0.6% on Tuesday.