Wynn Resorts said its executives and board of directors will take cuts in their compensation as part of a corporate-wide commitment to ensure employees will keep getting paychecks during the Covid-19 shutdown.
The cuts will range from 33 percent to 100 percent in the case of CEO Matt Maddox, who has agreed to forgo all his salary for the rest of the year in exchange for Wynn stock.
The company has pledged to continue paying all 15,000 of its U.S. employees through May 15, including part-time and tipped staff while it weathers the closing of its two Las Vegas Strip resorts and its Encore Boston Harbor resort in Massachusetts.
It’s suffering an even more severe hit from the virus-related slowdown in Macau, which is reeling from a near total halt in visitation from mainland China and where gaming revenue fell by 87 percent year on year in February and by almost 80 percent in March.
Wynn operates three casino resorts in the territory, which combined generate some 80 percent of its annual revenues.
Similarly, gaming supplier Scientific Games says CEO Barry Cottle is foregoing all of his salary through June 30 to preserve liquidity and “as many jobs as possible” while the industry is shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The company announced that other executives have volunteered to cut their salaries in half.
“Our industry is facing unprecedented challenges from the widespread impact of the Covid-19 outbreak,” Cottle said in a press release. “We are working around the clock to take care of our employees, customers, shareholders and other key stakeholders in these difficult times, while providing uninterrupted products and services to those customers who continue to operate.”
According to a report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Cottle joins a growing list of gaming executives forfeiting pay during the crisis, including William Hill US, where CEO Joe Asher announced he is donating his salary to a foundation to assist the more than 600 sportsbook employees who received furlough notices; and Everi CEO Michael Rumbolz, who cut his pay to zero while employees are experiencing layoffs and pay cuts.
Scientific Games has set up a “Hardship Relief Fund that can offer short-term assistance for furloughed employees and their immediate families who face “unexpected and onerous personal, family, or living expenses as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.”
“Thankfully, we came into this year with a very strong liquidity position,” Cottle said. “We have a diverse portfolio of assets, product and services that uniquely position us to weather this crisis.”
