Steve Wynn’s contribution to the development of Las Vegas as a premier gaming destination is well-known. Following the discovery of sexual harassment claims, Wynn has finally resigned as chairman and chief executive officer of Wynn Resorts.
How well do we know the guy behind the Wynn Resorts brand?
1942
Stephen Alan Weinberg
Stephen Alan Weinberg is born in New Haven, Connecticut on this day.
1946
In order to escape anti-Jewish persecution, his father Michael alters the family name from Weinberg to Wynn.
1959 Wynn graduated from Syracuse, New York’s The Manlius School.
1963
Wynn’s father dies of heart failure and leaves the family with up to $350,000 in crushing gaming debts. Wynn earns a BA in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania shortly after his father’s death. However, he subsequently resigns from Yale Law School to assume control of the family’s bingo enterprises.
In 1963, Wynn marries Elaine Pascal, his first wife.
1967
Las Vegas
Wynn acquires a stake in the Frontier Hotel and Casino after relocating his family to Las Vegas.
In 1971, Wynn is diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye condition.
1971
It is said that Wynn has received funds to invest in the Golden Nugget gaming hall in Las Vegas and transform it into a hotel-casino complex.
1973
Wynn becomes the youngest casino owner in Las Vegas after expanding his interest in the corporation that runs the Golden Nugget and becoming the majority stakeholder.
1980
The Golden Nugget Atlantic City has been built and inaugurated. It is the first casino to be constructed from the ground up in the city.
Wynn confirms his divorce from his wife Elaine in 1986.
The Golden Nugget in Atlantic City is sold by Wynn for $440 million in 1987.
The Nevada Club is purchased by Wynn’s corporation in Laughlin, Nevada, in 1989. Later, it was renamed the Golden Nugget Laughlin.
1989
When development of The Mirage is complete, the first major casino in the Wynn portfolio to open on the Las Vegas Strip will be The Mirage. This causes a $12 billion spending boom on the Las Vegas Strip.
Wynn remarries his first wife Elaine in 1991.
1993
At a cost of $450 million, the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino opens in the parking lot of The Mirage.
1993
Wynn’s daughter Kevyn is kidnapped. Wynn agrees to pay a $1.45 million ransom charge. One of the kidnappers is finally apprehended when he attempts to purchase a Ferrari in Newport Beach, California, using just cash.
1998
Cynthia Simmons, a cocktail server, brings a lawsuit against Wynn, alleging that he compelled her to sexually gratify baccarat gamblers at his request. At the moment, she fails in her attempts to expose the casino magnate.
1998
The Las Vegas Review-Journal chooses not to publish a story addressing a number of employee claims regarding Wynn’s behavior while employed at the Mirage. The allegations suggest that Wynn coerced employees into having sex with him and that The Mirage’s employment rules required waitresses to drop weight if they gained more than 6 pounds. In 2018, the Las Vegas Review-Journal would disclose the complete contents of the lawsuit it planned to publish 20 years prior.
1998 Bellagio Las Vegas
The extravagant Bellagio opens at a cost of $1.6 billion. It becomes the most costly hotel in the world at the time. It is recognized with influencing the development of additional Las Vegas resorts, including The Venetian, Paris Las Vegas, and Mandalay Bay.
In 1999, Wynn brings a little of Las Vegas to Biloxi, Mississippi, when he creates the Beau Rivage with a Mediterranean motif.
Wynn purchases the Desert Inn for $270 million in 2000.
Wynn’s Mirage Resorts was sold to MGM Grand Inc. for $6.6 billion in 2000, resulting in the formation of MGM Mirage.
Wynn becomes a billionaire in 2004 as his net worth doubles to $1.3 billion just two years after taking Wynn Resorts public.
2005
One of Wynn’s claimed sexual harassment victims identified this year as the time when the billionaire allegedly urged the manicurist to disrobe, lie on the massage table, and engage in sexual activity with him. She is ultimately compensated $7.5 million for remaining silent about the incident.
2005
Wynn Resorts will open the world’s most costly resort, Wynn Las Vegas, on the site of the former Desert Inn at a cost of $2.7 billion.
Wynn joins the Macau market in 2006 with the opening of Wynn Macau. A few years later, it would become the sixth resort in Macau to get a Mobil five-star designation.
2008
Encore Las Vegas opens its doors to the general public. The entire cost of the project was $2.3 billion.
2010
Following a second disastrous marriage, Steve and Elaine Wynn announce a second divorce.
In 2010, Encore at Wynn Macau begins operations.
In 2011, Wynn marries Andrea Hissom, his second wife.
2014
The anticipated completion date for the Wynn Boston Harbor project is 2019, with construction commencing in 2018. Due of the recent claims of sexual harassment against Wynn, the project is still under consideration.
2016 Wynn Palace resort Macau
In Macau, the Wynn Palace resort opens. It is the first Wynn Resorts property on the coveted Cotai Strip.
2018
According to an investigation conducted by the Wall Street Journal, hundreds of former Wynn workers allege that he sexually harassed or acted improperly towards them during their employment. The duration of the claims spans decades.
2018
In view of the severe charges that have been made public, it has been decided that Wynn would resign as finance chairman of the Republican National Committee.
2018 marks Wynn’s official resignation as CEO of Wynn Resorts due to sexual harassment allegations.