the Nominees

Our Nominees bring the experience, execution skills, and shareholder alignment necessary to create long term value for PENN shareholders.

William Clifford
William Clifford has more than 30 years of experience delivering excellent returns for shareholders in the gaming industry.
Seasoned Gaming Industry Executive
  • Former Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Gaming and Leisure Properties
  • Former Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Penn National Gaming
    • In 12 years as CFO, William played an instrumental role in the company's exponential growth, helping to drive an approximately 20x return for shareholders.
  • Served in various operational finance roles for a variety of casino companies in Las Vegas and the Bahamas
Significant Board Experience
  • Current director on the Board of Drive Shack Inc., where he sits on the Audit Committee and serves as chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee
  • Previously served as a director of Intrawest Holdings, Inc. and as chairman of the Audit Committee
Johnny Hartnett
Johnny Hartnett has decades of experience building and running online sports betting and gaming businesses.
Experienced at Growing and Leading Gaming Businesses
  • Former CEO of Superbet Group
    • Under his leadership, revenue grew 7x and profitability increased 5x
  • Former Chief Development Officer of Flutter Group
    • Led the company’s M&A activities, including its acquisition of FanDuel
  • Former Chief Operating Officer of Flutter
    • During his tenure, shareholder returns were approximately 23x from the 2002 IPO to 2019
  • Former COO of Sportsbet Australia and former MD of Paddy Power Online
Relevant Board Experience
  • Current non-executive director of Superbet Group
  • Current director of Hentons & Co LLP, a privately held investment vehicle, and Ding, a global mobile top up and remittance business
  • Previously served as a non-executive director of Xtremepush Limited, an omnichannel customer engagement platform
Carlos Ruisanchez
Carlos Ruisanchez has a strong track record of capital allocation and value creation for shareholders.
Entrepreneurial and Gaming Industry Success
  • Former President and Chief Financial Officer of Pinnacle Entertainment
    • Helped drive a nearly 5x total return for shareholders during his tenure
    • Played a critical role in multiple transformative moves to unlock shareholder value, including:
      • The acquisition of Ameristar;
      • Executing multiple highly accretive share repurchase plans;
      • Entering a sale-leaseback with GLPI; and
      • Leading strategic conversations with PENN which resulted in a merger with Pinnacle
  • Co-Founder of Sorelle Capital and Sorelle Hospitality
Significant Public Company Board Experience
  • Current member of the Board of Directors of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SWX)
  • Prior director of Cedar Fair Entertainment Company (NYSE: FUN, from 2019 to 2024) until its merger with Six Flags Entertainment Corporation and Pinnacle (NASDAQ: PNK, from 2016 to 2018)
  • Former director of Pinnacle Entertainment prior to its sale in 2018

Analyst Commentary on the Nominees

View all Third-Party Perspectives

“Their nominees are people who know Penn, and many investors want people in there who know the business and can get things turned around here… I think HG Vora is in this for the long game[.]”

Citizens JMP Group LLC
February 5, 2025

Disclaimer

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The information herein contains "forward-looking statements" that can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Specific forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and include, without limitation, words such as "may," "will," "expects," "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "potential," "targets," "forecasts," "seeks," "could," "should" or the negative of such terms or other variations on such terms or comparable terminology. Similarly, statements that describe our objectives, plans or goals are forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties and assumptions. There can be no assurance that any idea or assumption herein is, or will be proven, correct. If one or more of the risks or uncertainties materialize, or if HG Vora’s underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, the actual results may vary materially from outcomes indicated by these statements. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by HG Vora that the future plans, estimates or expectations contemplated will ever be achieved. The information herein does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described herein in any state to any person.


Certain Information Concerning the Participants

HG Vora and the other Participants (as defined below) filed a definitive proxy statement and accompanying gold universal proxy card with the SEC on May 12, 2025 to be used to solicit proxies for the election of its slate of director nominees at the 2025 annual meeting of shareholders (the “2025 Annual Meeting”) of PENN Entertainment, Inc. ("PENN").

The participants in the proxy solicitation are currently anticipated to be HG Vora Capital Management, LLC (the “Investment Manager”), HG Vora Special Opportunities Master Fund, Ltd. (“Master Fund”), Downriver Series LP – Segregated Portfolio C (“Downriver”), Parag Vora (“Mr. Vora” and, collectively with Investment Manager, Master Fund and Downriver, “HG Vora”), William Clifford, Johnny Hartnett , and Carlos Ruisanchez (collectively all of the foregoing, the “Participants”).

As of the date hereof, (i) Master Fund directly owns 3,825,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”), of PENN, including 100 shares of Common Stock as the record holder and (ii) Downriver directly owns 3,425,000 shares of Common Stock, including 100 shares of Common Stock as the record holder (collectively, the 7,250,000 shares of Common Stock owned by Master Fund and Downriver, the “HG Vora Shares”). The HG Vora Shares collectively represent approximately 4.80% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock, based on the 150,852,769 shares of Common Stock outstanding as of April 24, 2025, as disclosed by PENN on its proxy statement for the Annual Meeting. The Investment Manager is the investment manager of Master Fund and Downriver, each of which have delegated all investment and voting decisions to the Investment Manager. Mr. Vora is the manager of the Investment Manager and has authority over day-to-day operations and investment and voting decisions, including with respect to the HG Vora Shares, of the Investment Manager. Each of the Investment Manager and Mr. Vora may be deemed to have the shared power to vote or direct the vote of (and the shared power to dispose or direct the disposition of) the HG Vora Shares and indirect ownership thereof. Mr. Ruisanchez directly owns 3,150 shares of Common Stock. Neither Mr. Clifford nor Mr. Hartnett beneficially own any shares of Common Stock. Certain of the Participants are also from time to time party to certain derivative instruments that provide economic exposure to PENN’s Common Stock. All of the foregoing information is as of the date hereof unless otherwise disclosed.


Important Information and Where to Find It

HG VORA STRONGLY ADVISES ALL SHAREHOLDERS OF THE CORPORATION TO READ THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER PROXY MATERIALS BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. SUCH PROXY MATERIALS ARE AVAILABLE AT NO CHARGE ON THE SEC’S WEBSITE AT WWW.SEC.GOV. THE DEFINITIVE PROXY AND ACCOMPANYING PROXY CARD WILL ALSO BE FURNISHED TO SOME OR ALL OF THE COMPANY’S SHAREHOLDERS. SHAREHOLDERS MAY DIRECT A REQUEST TO THE PARTICIPANTS’ PROXY SOLICITOR, OKAPI PARTNERS LLC, 1212 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, 17TH FLOOR, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10036 (SHAREHOLDERS CAN CALL TOLL-FREE: (877) 629-6355).