Harrah's Entertainment Tops Fortune's List of Most Admired Casino Companies

Company Press Release: Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.

February 16, 2000
LAS VEGAS, NV -- Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: HET) is the most admired casino company in America, according to Fortune Magazine.

Fortune also ranked Harrah's Entertainment third among the most admired companies in the nation's entire hotel, casino and resort industry. Marriott International and Host Marriott, which don't operate casinos, ranked first and second.

The Fortune rankings measure a company's performance in such categories as quality of management, innovativeness, long-term investment value, financial soundness, employee talent, social responsibility, quality of products and services, and use of corporate assets.

``This ranking is yet another indication that the efforts by all our employees to execute our strategic growth plan of being the leading consumer-marketing company in the casino industry are working,'' said Phil Satre, Harrah's Entertainment's chairman and chief executive officer.

The Fortune list is contained in the magazine's Feb. 21 edition and is available on-line at www.fortune.com.

The candidates were selected from the 1,000 largest U.S. companies and 25 largest U.S. subsidiaries of foreign-owned companies. Fortune then asked 10,000 executives, directors and securities analysts to select the five companies they admired most, regardless of industry.

Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. is the most recognized and respected name in the casino entertainment industry, operating 19 casinos in the United States under the Harrah's, Showboat and Rio brand names. Founded more than 60 years ago, Harrah's is focused on building loyalty and value with its targeted customers through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and technology leadership. The company recently relocated its corporate headquarters from Memphis, Tennessee, to Las Vegas, Nevada.

SOURCE: Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.