Читать книгу Intellectual Property - Russell L. Parr - Страница 13

In 1989, the grand opening of the Mirage Resort & Casino changed the Las Vegas Strip from glorified slot machine barns into a fabulous resort destination. The Mirage property was unprecedented in its size and upscale show offerings. This imaginative effort was the brainchild of Steve Wynn. In the prior history of Las Vegas, nothing like it had ever been seen before. From this exciting start, Steve Wynn built Wynn Resorts Ltd.

Wynn Resorts, Ltd. develops, owns, and operates destination casino resorts. As of February 15, 2018, the company's Wynn Macau segment had approximately 273,000 square feet of casino space, offering 316 table games and 988 slot machines, private gaming salons, sky casinos, and a poker pit; two luxury hotel towers with a total of 1,008 guest rooms and suites; eight food and beverage outlets; 59,000 square feet of retail space; 31,000 square feet of meeting and convention space; recreation and leisure facilities comprising two health clubs, spas, a salon, and a pool; and a rotunda show, a Chinese zodiac-inspired ceiling. Its Wynn Palace segment had approximately 420,000 square feet of casino space offering 323 table games and 1,115 slot machines, private gaming salons, and sky casinos; a luxury hotel with a total of 1,706 guest rooms, suites, and villas; 11 food and beverage outlets; 106,000 square feet of retail space; 37,000 square feet of meeting and convention space; recreation and leisure facilities, including a gondola ride, health club, spa, salon, and pool; and public attractions, such as a performance lake and floral art displays.

The company's Las Vegas Operations segment had approximately 192,000 square feet of casino space, providing 247 table games and 1,829 slot machines, private gaming salons, a sky casino, a poker room, and a race and sports book; two luxury hotel towers with a total of 4,748 guest rooms, suites, and villas; 33 food and beverage outlets; 110,000 square feet of retail space; 290,000 square feet of meeting and convention space; three nightclubs and a beach club; recreation and leisure facilities, including swimming pools, private cabanas, two full service spas and salons, and a wedding chapel; and Le Rêve–The Dream, a water-based theatrical production and a theater presenting entertainment productions and various headliner entertainment acts. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

At the beginning of January 2018, Wynn was a 75-year-old billionaire, chairman of Wynn Resorts, and working on developing a $2.6 billion resort in Massachusetts. By the beginning of February, Wynn was unemployed. Wynn's sexual harassment story is special because he personally was Wynn Resorts and it was him. Once the story of sexual harassment broke, things went downhill real fast.

On January 26, 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported that there were accusations of sexual misconduct against Wynn over many decades. The next day, Wynn resigned as finance chair of the Republican National Committee. On January 30, 2018, The Nevada Gaming Control Board announced an investigation into Wynn's conduct. The regulatory authority can assess fines, revoke licenses, and halt commercial activity. On February 6, 2018, Wynn resigned as chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts. He maintained he was innocent but said the torrent of negative publicity made it impossible for him to be effective. On February 7, 2018, a shareholder fund filed a lawsuit against the board of directors claiming they knew about sexual misconduct and failed to inform investors. This was quickly followed by three law firms seeking investors in Wynn Resorts for a class action lawsuit against the board for its failure to report Wynn's alleged sexual misconduct. An insider trading action was launched by The New York State comptroller, acting on behalf of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, claiming that executives and five board members engaged in insider trading when they sold company stock while aware of the sexual misconduct allegations. On February 27, 2018, women in Las Vegas and Chicago prompted police departments to begin an investigation. One woman told police she felt coerced into a sexual relationship with Wynn in the 1970s. In March 2018, two massage therapists filed civil complaints against Wynn for intentional misconduct and alleged being coerced into having sex with Wynn. On March 7, 2018, two board members announced their plans to step down.⁷

On January 25, 2018, Wynn Resorts traded at $200.60. It dropped to $180.29 the next day and by January 29 dropped further, hitting $163.47. The $37.13 per share drop in value is an 18.5% loss in just four days. The share price bounced around at the $160 level for awhile and by mid-year recovered to its $200 level. After achieving the $200 level in mid-May, the stock steadily fell and as of this writing in early September has dropped to $128.38. If the entire drop is credited to Wynn's behavior, then he caused investors a loss of 36% of shareholder value. If we only attribute the immediate 18.5% loss to the revelations about Wynn, the shareholder loss is still huge. With 108.54 million shares outstanding, the $37.13 per share drop in value equaled a loss of $4 billion.