Steve Wynn is the founder of Wynn Resorts, a top operating gaming company. Wynn’s ex-wife, Elaine Wynn, has recently stepped up her game in the fight for control over 10 million shares that she is unable to sell based on an agreement signed in 2010 with Steve Wynn and Kazuo Okada, Steve’s ex-business partner.
On Monday, new claims were presented to the Nevada state court by Elaine stating that her ex-husband had orchestrated her removal from the board in 2015 to retaliate against the questions she had in regards to what she considered reckless mismanagement of the Wynn Resorts brand.
In the filing, Elaine states that among other things, she learned that Mr. Wynn was using a private criminal defense attorney and a private gaming attorney, and made a multimillion dollar payment after he felt threatened with the allegations of serious misconduct that occurred on company property against an employee of Wynn Resorts.
Elaine Wynn has been fighting for some time to see her release from the stockholders agreement, an agreement that prevents her from selling her shares in the company. Elaine argues that she should not be bound by the restrictions of the agreement as it is similar to one held by Okada. Okada’s 20% stake in Wynn Resorts was forced to be redeemed after he was accused of making improper payments to gambling regulators in the Philippines, claims which he denies.
Elaine now claims that once Okada was stripped of his Wynn Resort shares, the restrictions on her shares became invalid. She has now hired new attorneys to work on the case and is seeking an unspecified amount of compensation as well as punitive damages based on fraud and other allegations towards Steve Wynn.
Steve Wynn has responded to the claims, by way of his attorney via a statement. In the statement, it reads that Wynn finds the lawsuit is filled with lies and distortions, creating an embarrassment for Ms. Wynn and her counsel. The lawyer further stated that the suit is simply an effort to inflict personal pain on Mr. Wynn.
The statement also provides information that Elaine Wynn knew of the settlement reached between Steve Wynn and an employee of the casino by using his personal funds since 2009 and never said anything about it during many board meetings over the six years when she was present after the settlement was reached.
According to information gathered by Bloomberg, the Wynn’s have around 21% of the stock of Wynn Resorts, with Elaine having 10 million shares which are now worth just under $1 billion.