History
One month after agreeing to sell Mirage Resorts to MGM Grand in a hostile takeover, Steve Wynn laid the foundation for his next venture, buying the Desert Inn for $270 million.
Wynn found an early partner in Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada of Universal Entertainment Corporation. Wynn, together with Universal subsidiary Aruze USA, controlled almost half the stock, making it harder for outside investors to exert control, as they had done at Mirage in response to Wynn's prolific spending.
Wynn Resorts made its initial public offering on NASDAQ on October 25, 2002.
The company's first project, Wynn Las Vegas, opened on April 28, 2005.
Wynn Macau, the company's second project started construction on June 28, 2004. It opened September 5, 2006.
Encore, an extension to Wynn Las Vegas, broke ground on April 28, 2006, the first anniversary of the opening of Wynn Las Vegas. Steve Wynn announced a planned redevelopment of the golf course at Wynn Las Vegas, called Wynn Golf and Country Club, into two separate resorts, and a large lake, connected by the "Wynn Parkway". Redevelopment will not take place before 2009.
Encore at Wynn Macau, the company's second project in Macau Peninsula, Macau, People's Republic of China, opened on April 21, 2010.
Wynn bought 52 acres (21 ha) of the Cotai Strip in Macau where he hopes to break ground in 2012 for Wynn Cotai for a 2013 or early 2014 opening.
The company considered opening a casino as part of the Entertainment City development in the Philippines, but decided against it because of corruption in the country's gaming industry. Okada decided to proceed with the project alone, leading to the rupture of his partnership with Wynn.
The dispute went public with reciprocal accusations of corrupt practices. 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, while Okada questioned the propriety of Wynn Resorts' record $135 million donation to the University of Macau. Okada resigned as vice chairman in October 2011, and the following February, after a company investigation by the Freeh Group confirmed the charges against him, the board of directors forced Aruze USA to sell back its shares at a nearly 30% discount. Aruze had been the company's largest shareholder, with a 19.7% stake.
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