The Mississippi Lottery Corporation announced today that is has hired experienced lottery executive Thomas N. Shaheen to serve as the first president of the Mississippi Lottery Corporation. Shaheen served as Executive Director of the North Carolina Education Lottery from 2005 until 2019, shepherding the lottery through its start-up phase and through multiple years of steady growth.
“Tom brings a wealth of industry expertise and experience running both established and start-up lotteries,” said MLC Chairman Mike McGrevey. “His history in the leadership of lotteries will help Mississippi establish our lottery quickly and successfully,” said MLC Vice-Chairman Gerard Gibert.
Before starting up the North Carolina Lottery, Shaheen served as Chief Executive officer of the New Mexico Lottery, where he helped increase sales and lottery profits dramatically. Shaheen served as an executive during the startup of the Georgia Lottery Corporation, and worked for both the Texas and Florida Lotteries during their start ups.
Shaheen is a recognized leader in the lottery field, having served as president of the National Association of State and Provincial Lotteries. He previously served as president of the Multi-State Lottery Association, the organization that runs Powerball. He received the Public Gaming Research Institute (PGRI) Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 and was inducted into the PGRI Lottery Hall of Fame in 2015.
A graduate of Wayne State University, Shaheen most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer of Linq3, a lottery technology company. As president, he will make a base salary of $225,000 and be eligible for performance incentives.
As required by the Alyce G. Clarke Mississippi Lottery Law, Governor Phil Bryant reviewed and approved the selection of Shaheen after a meeting yesterday.
