Without Steve Wynn, Casino Empire Risks Losing More Than a Name
Billy Vassiliadis, chief executive of R & R Partners, the firm
that markets Las Vegas for the city’s Convention and Visitors Authority, said Mr. Wynn was “an idea generator.”
“None of us in this world are irreplaceable,’’ Mr. Vassiliadis said.
But on Wednesday afternoon, members of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission said it would not halt its investigation of Mr. Wynn and his company, noting
that he continued to hold stock and could exert influence over the company and its brand.
“But that kind of raw imagination is pretty rare.”
Frank Fahrenkopf, a former Republican National Committee chairman who founded the American Gaming Association
and is a close friend of Mr. Wynn’s, said he had not talked to Mr. Wynn about the decision.
As such, we do not believe the company can grow at the same trajectory nor can it maintain its cutting edge position.”
Mr. Wynn’s hold on his company had been tenuous ever since The Wall Street Journal published an in-depth investigation last month revealing
that he had been accused of harassing female employees for decades, including allegations that he exposed himself and pressured some women to have sex.
With pressure mounting on his lucrative business operations, including a half-finished $2.4 billion casino resort near Boston,
and with shareholder lawsuits and various investigations clouding his future, Mr. Wynn said he was stepping down because of “an avalanche of negative publicity.”
“Elvis has left the building,’’ the global investment firm Jefferies wrote in a note on Wednesday.
