Steve Wynn’s Ex-Wife Wages Fight Against Wynn Resorts Board

Despite leadership turnover, waters are still choppy within the Wynn Resorts C-suite.

Elaine Wynn, the ex-wife of former CEO Steve Wynn and currently the largest shareholder in the company, is ramping up a fight against the Wynn Resorts board of directors after a candidate she supported for chairman or vice chairman was voted down. She was behind former Harrah’s CEO Phil Satre, but unnamed sources said new board member Betsy Atkins blocked his nomination in her own quest to be chair, the New York Post reports. 

Regulatory filings show Elaine Wynn, who holds about $1.5B in Wynn Resorts stock, had agreed to support the company board if her preferred candidate was voted in as chair. The voting turmoil comes as the company is under increased scrutiny over how much it knew about Steve Wynn’s alleged sexual misconduct before a Wall Street Journal report earlier this year revealed decades of alleged abuse. 

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is still looking into a potential cover-up of sexual harassment allegations against the company’s former leader and could revoke Wynn Resorts’ license to operate the $2.5B casino it has under construction outside Boston. The casino operator has already changed the name of the resort from Wynn Boston Harbor to Encore Boston Harbor in an effort to salvage its image with the state. 

Wynn Resorts General Counsel Kim Sinatra stepped down from the company last week, which gaming expert David Katz thinks is another play by the company to win over investigators. 

“I find it believable that Massachusetts had some influence in Sinatra’s decision to resign,” Katz said to the Post.