Former Mirage Resorts CEO Steve Wynn began the company’s formation when he sold Mirage Resorts to MGM Grand. He laid the foundation for Wynn Resorts when he bought the Desert Inn, Las Vegas in the same year for $270m.
With clever commercial maneuvering, Wynn secured an early partner – a Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada, of the Universal Entertainment Corporation, a partnership that allowed him to control the majority of the company’s stocks.
Wynn went live on NASDAQ in 2002, with its first retail project – Wynn Las Vegas – opening in 2005. The second venture took place when Wynn strayed into the Asian market, opening the Wynn Macau in 2006; it remains the largest-grossing casino in this densely populated region to this day.
A key turning point in Wynn’s history occurred when the company considered reaching its operations to the Philippines in 2011. Steve Wynn was put off by the corrupt practices rampant in the country, however, Okada wanted to push ahead with the expansion.
The feud got ugly when Wynn and his allies accused Okada of bribing Philippines gaming regulators with over $110,000 in benefits, including free nights in a luxury suite at Wynn Las Vegas. Okada, meanwhile, claimed that Wynn Resorts' record $135m donation to the University of Macau constituted a bribe.
Okada was forced to resign as vice-chairman in 2011 and the Wynn board made him sell his shares back at a nearly 30% discount.
Wynn Resorts continued to see excellent results in Asia, as it opened the Encore Macau Resort in 2010 followed by Wynn Palace, Cotai in 2016. Wynn Resorts has seen its Asian assets perform strongly even during the pandemic, with total operating profits of $416.9m for the last quarter of 2021.
Steve Wynn resigned as CEO of Wynn Resorts in 2018 under scandalous circumstances; his immediate successor Matthew Maddox also became mired in scandal. The instatement of current CEO Craig Billings was seen as an attempt to stay the course for Wynn Resorts.
Key personnel:
Chief Financial Officer Wynn MA, : Alison Rankin
Chief Financial Officer: Julie Cameron-Doe
Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer: Dean Lawrence
Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer: Craig Fullalove
President (Mid-Atlantic Region): Ken Meyer
President, Wynn Las Vegas, LLC: Brian Gullbrants
Number of employees: 26,950
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