How Indian American Hoteliers Built a Hospitality Empire, With Help From an Unlikely Ally
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 16 January 2026
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, former Las Vegas Sands executive Mike Leven shares how an unlikely partnership helped launch the Asian American Hotel Owners Association in the 1980s. After hearing stereotypes inside the hotel industry about Indian American franchisees, Leven asked for the data and found their properties performed like everyone else, often better. Working with hotel owner H. P. Rama and organizer Lee Duschoff, he helped form an association to fight discrimination, improve access to financing, and claim a rightful place in American hospitality.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.6 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:14.3 | And we continue with Our American Stories. |
| 0:16.9 | And up next, you've heard from him before. |
| 0:19.0 | And by the way, go to Our American Stories.com. |
| 0:22.1 | And you can hear Mike Levin tell all kinds of stories, not just about his life, but stories |
| 0:27.2 | you can apply to yours. |
| 0:29.1 | And that's why we have him tell them. |
| 0:31.1 | Mike was the president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands Corporation. |
| 0:35.6 | Google the Singapore casino. |
| 0:38.2 | Look at what he built. |
| 0:40.2 | And look at what he did in Las Vegas, |
| 0:42.1 | the number of jobs he created, |
| 0:43.9 | the options for Americans or people around the world, |
| 0:46.6 | to go to a great resort and enjoy some gambling and some entertainment |
| 0:50.1 | and have it be safe and clean. |
| 0:52.6 | Up next, Mike tells the story about he, a Jewish man, |
| 0:56.3 | helped start the Asian American Hotel Owners Association. |
| 1:01.2 | It's a heck of a story. |
| 1:02.6 | Take it away, Mike. |
| 1:03.9 | Let's fast forward to 1985. |
| 1:06.6 | I get the days in job, and the interesting thing about getting the days in job was that I was referred to Henry |
... |
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