Charles Atwood.

Chuck Atwood says he never envisioned himself working with a casino company. Indeed, when he was in college, there was no way to prepare for such a job; it wasn't yet legal for casinos to be owned by corporations. Having grown into his CFO role by virtually doing all the other finance jobs, he says he truly enjoys the interesting and smart people he works with, and values the learning that goes along with the job.

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Goes By: Chuck

Title: Senior Vice President and CFO

Company: Harrah's Entertainment Inc.

Born: Pascagoula, Miss., Dec. 29, 1948

Marital Status: Single

Education Summary: University of Southern Mississippi, BSBA, 1970; CPA 1971; Tulane University, MBA, 1973

Career Summary: Arthur Andersen, New Orleans, La., 1970-71, Auditor and Tax Preparer; NEI Corp., New Orleans, La., 1973-78, began as Controller, then Assistant to the Chairman; Canal Place Venture, New Orleans, La., 1978-79, Financial Controller; Harrah's Entertainment Inc. (then Holiday Inns Corp.), Las Vegas, Nev., 1979-Present, Senior Financial Analyst, M & A, Investor Relations, Treasurer, Senior Vice President and CFO

FEI Chapter: Las Vegas

Leisure Pursuits: "Gourmet dining, reading and travel. I'm an adventurous eater, so I can't say I have a favorite food, but I enjoy nicely prepared fresh food. I cook occasionally, mostly for entertaining. A great part of living in Las Vegas is that some of the best restaurants in the world are here, all within walking distance of each other. I enjoy world travel--particularly to Italy, my favorite place."

Time Management: "Delegate: Surround yourself with smart people and give them the responsibility and the authority to act."

Stress Management: "Do the job and move on--don't worry about it."

Favorite Book: Conservative Investors Sleep Well by Philip Fisher

I would like to spend 1 hour with: Franklin Roosevelt, because of his leadership skills. He was such a dynamic leader, and able to lead the country from a situation where there was despair to a point where there was victory in the war."

If you could change something, what would it be? "There would be a better understanding of the consequences of financial success/failure on society in general. Financially successful companies make the economy grow bigger and more robust, and create opportunities. They hire people, develop more products, etc. I don't think it's so widely recognized or appreciated, especially lately, with lots of media attention about those 'big bad corporations,' when, in reality, 'big bad corporations'--to the extent that they are successful--are the ones creating products and building job growth for our economy.

The financially unsuccessful companies are just the opposite. Those, like Enron, ultimately do not survive. To me, it's a life lesson about how finance and accounting really have great impact on society."

Worst Day on a Job: "When I had to fire scores of people at a new job due to downsizing--as a result of poor accounting practices."

Best Day: "Being named Harrah's CFO."

Favorite Career Deal: "Development of Harrah's Joliet, our first riverboat."

Memorable Moments: When I began my first job out of graduate school with NEI Corp., a real estate development company, I immediately noticed things didn't look right. As controller for the Houston division, a major homebuilder in that market at that time, I could see the financial dealings of the company: we were making large profits, but we didn't have any money.

I took my findings to the CFO. To his credit, he listened when I said, 'the records don't match the economics,' and told me to find out what was wrong. I found some basic accounting and auditing steps hadn't been followed, and, as a result, the accounting was wrong. So, instead of record profits, the company had been unprofitable and needed to go back and restate prior years' profits. Additionally, there was a serious liquidity crisis approaching. I presented my findings to the board of directors, and this led to litigation: the company sued its auditors; the auditors sued the company, and me, personally--over my good work!

It ultimately all worked out fine; the litigation was settled. Following the lawsuit, I was propelled to assistant to the chairman. It was a good life lesson early in my career--you learn a lot in times of trial."

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