Steve Wynn Denied Severance Package Following Resignation

On February 6th, Steve Wynn stepped down from his position as CEO of Wynn Resorts after a series of sexual allegation claims were made against him by ex-female employees. The US billionaire resigned despite denying the accusations, but explained that he felt compelled to do so after an avalanche of bad publicity which caused conventions to be cancelled, the company’s stock price to fall, and politicians to distance themselves from him.
At the time the company he founded in 2002 expressed its solidarity with Wynn, but the litany of damming indictments that have since piled up against him has made the company’s previous stance untenable. One particularly troubling example, for instance, concerns a $7.5 million payout he made in 2005 to a manicurist who said that she was forced to have sex with her boss at one of the Wynn premises.
Considering the mounting pressure, Steve Wynn has now been shunned by his company, too, with a securities filing it made on Friday subsequently denying him a severance package, which according to some estimates may have been worth as much as $330 million.
In addition, Steve Wynn has lost access to the company’s health care scheme, and must pay rent on his suite at the Wynn Las Vegas, before vacating the property no later than June 1st According to the terms of the contact Mr. Wynn had signed with the company, he is further required to provide “reasonable cooperation and assistance” concerning any investigation related to his time in charge  of the business.
If all this wasn’t bad enough, Wynn Resorts is also currently being sued by Japanese businessman Kazuo Okada for more than $4 billion over allegations that he was unfairly ousted from the company. Okada and his holding company Aruze USA used to own a 20% stake in Wynn Resorts, but said that he was pressured to sell his interest by the board acting impartially under Steve Wynn’s instructions.
“Mr. Wynn consistently refused efforts to consider Aruze USA directors for the board, in an effort to continue to monopolize control over Wynn Resorts,” explained Okada’s lawyers in their filing.
One a more positive note, Kazuo Okada is also no longer at the head of his organizations, perhaps suggesting that a settlement may be agreed more easily without the two big personalities directly involved.