AGS President and CEO David Lopez wins 'American Executive of the Year'

AGS announced Tuesday that its President and Chief Executive Officer David Lopez received the Global Gaming Award for ‘American Executive of the Year’ on Monday afternoon. The presentation ceremony was held at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas during the Global Gaming Expo (G2E), where AGS is showcasing its newest and most innovative products in booth No. 1253.

Lopez was among 19 gaming industry CEOs nominated in the category, representing companies such as Aristocrat, IGT, Interblock, and Scientific Games. A panel of 100 judges, made up of many esteemed executives and influencers from the global gaming industry, cast their votes and chose Lopez as the 2019 ‘American Executive of the Year.’

According to the Global Gaming Awards organizers, the Executive of the Year seeks to acknowledge and recognize one truly unique executive in the global gaming industry who has successfully steered their respective company on the path to success. It serves to pay tribute to those individuals whose efforts serve to drive the industry forward as a whole.

AGS Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President of Investor Relations Julia Boguslawski said: “This award is an incredible honor for both David and AGS, especially among such an impressive group of contenders representing many large and well-established companies. We are thrilled to see David be recognized for his contributions to the global gaming industry and his leadership at AGS, where he has guided us to meaningful growth, taken the company public, and cultivated the best employee culture in the gaming supplier space.”

Lopez joined AGS as President and Chief Executive Officer in early 2014. Under his leadership, AGS grew the company organically and through numerous strategic acquisitions to become a full-service supplier of slots, table products, and interactive solutions. He has led AGS to double-digit growth in revenue and AEBITDA for the last four fiscal years, beginning in 2015. In 2018, under Lopez’s leadership, AGS successfully completed an initial public offering and secondary offering of the company’s stock, and AGS is now traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AGS. 

Prior to AGS, Lopez served two years as Chief Executive Officer, President, and board member of Global Cash Access (now Everi). Before that, he was Chief Operating Officer and a board member for leading table products supplier Shuffle Master, Inc. (now a Scientific Games asset). During his nearly 15-year tenure at Shuffle Master, Lopez held various executive positions, including Interim CEO, Executive Vice President, President of the Americas, and Vice President of Product Management. He was instrumental in Shuffle Master’s phenomenal growth from a $27 million company in 1998 to nearly $260 million in annual revenues when he left the company in 2012.

Lopez was recognized by Glassdoor.com as one of the top CEOs of 2019 in their Employees’ Choice Awards. He earned a 98 percent approval rating by AGS employees based on anonymous, voluntary employee reviews. Lopez’s passionate focus on driving a positive employee culture can be attributed to AGS’ third consecutive year winning ‘Atlanta’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For (2019, 2018, 2017) and two consecutive years winning ‘Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation (2018 and 2017) based on confidential, independent employee surveys.

Now in its sixth year, the Global Gaming Awards Las Vegas recognizes and rewards operational excellence displayed across a 12-month period. The Global Gaming Awards Las Vegas are powered by Gambling Insider magazine in association with G2E. The voting process is independently adjudicated by KPMG Isle of Man to ensure full transparency.