Les Otten

American business executive (born 1949)

Leslie B. Otten (born 1949) is the former CEO of the American Skiing Company. Since resigning as its chief executive officer in 2001, Otten has been involved in numerous other businesses and industries, including the Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox.

Otten was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, where he received his early education. He graduated high school from the Hun School of Princeton in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1967 and was named an Alumnus of the Year in 1999. Otten received a B. S. in Business Administration from Ithaca College in 1971, after which he worked for Killington and Sunday River ski resorts. In 1980, he purchased Sunday River, and his company, LBO Resort Enterprises, grew by acquiring Sugarbush, Attitash Bear Peak, and Cranmore in the Vermont New Hampshire skiing areas.

Otten started his career at Killington Ski Resort in Vermont in 1971. In 1973, at the age of 23, Otten was named ski operation manager of Sunday River in Newry, Maine. In 1980 Otten purchased Sunday River. In 1989, Otten was named Inc. Magazine Entrepreneur of the Year, Turnaround Category. In 1995 he formed American Skiing Company by acquiring S K I, and this expanded his resorts to include Killington, Mount Snow, Haystack, Waterville Valley, and Sugarloaf/USA. He was forced to divest his interests in Waterville Valley and Cranmore but went on to buy Pico Peak in Vermont. Under Otten, American Skiing Company invested heavily in marketing and infrastructure. While these investments are credited with major turnaround and growth, they overleveraged the company. A later bailout by an investment firm ultimately caused him to leave day to day operations while remaining on the Board of Directors. Otten resigned this position on February 26, 2007, to pursue other options. In 2009, Otten was inducted into the Maine Ski Hall of Fame. On February 28, 2016, The Boston Globe reported that Otten had purchased part of the now closed Balsams Resort in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire. According to the article, Otten plans to spend over $100 million to renovate and rebuild the resort with the goal of turning it into a four seasons destination. If finished, the skiing area would be the largest in New England, with 2,200 acres of skiiable terrain. On March 23rd 2024, Otten was inducted into the US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame during "Skiing History Celebration" in Park City, Utah.

From 2002 through 2007, Otten was vice chairman and minority partner of the Boston Red Sox American Major League Baseball franchise. In 2004, the Red Sox won their first World Series Championship since 1918 while Otten was part of the ownership group.

Otten was a candidate for Governor of Maine in the 2010 election, announcing his participation in the Republican gubernatorial primary on October 19, 2009. Otten first announced an exploratory committee on June 22, 2009. The campaign was criticized by the Maine Democratic Party for allegedly copying President Barack Obama's famous "O" insignia and website layout from the 2008 presidential election cycle. A statement from Otten's website claimed that the Obama campaign had first "copied" the logo from the new Pepsi logo. This claim was refuted, as the Obama "O" was first used months before Pepsi revamped their logo. Otten would be defeated the Republican primary by Waterville mayor Paul LePage, who would go on to win the general election and serve two terms as Governor of Maine. Otten finished second in the Republican primary with 17.4% of the vote, 20 points behind LePage's 37.4%. Otten stated in 2020 that he would vote for Democrat Joe Biden for President, despite being a Republican.

Otten lives in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire.