Former U.S. Ambassador to China Clark T. “Sandy” Randt Jr. and former Nevada Gaming Commissioner Patricia Mulroy joined Wynn Resorts’ board of directors as of October 15, the resort announced.
Mulroy has extensive experience balancing local growth and environmental issues as the former general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority and the Las Vegas Valley Water District.
She also was a commissioner for the Nevada Gaming Commission member from July 2014 until her Wynn board appointment this month.
“In the 45 years that I have been in business in Las Vegas, Pat Mulroy has been one of the most impressive public servants, running a large organization and dealing with complex issues,” Wynn Resorts Chairman and CEO Stephen Wynn said. “Her willingness to join our board and apply her independent judgment on all matters is a marvelous and positive development at Wynn Resorts.”
Randt was ambassador to China from 2001 to 2009, is president of Randt & Co., which advises firms with interests in China, a director of Qualcomm, UPS and Valmont, and brings expertise in the growing Asian market to Wynn’s board.
“Ambassador Randt’s relationship with the central government of Beijing gives him a unique perspective on that government’s most fundamental issues and concerns,” Wynn said. “He speaks the language and understands the people.”
With the appointment of Randt and Mulroy, the Wynn Board of Directors now consists of nine directors, seven of whom are independent.
Mulroy’s appointment already has proven quite controversial.
The Nevada Commission on Ethics had to waive a one-year restriction against state regulators becoming casino board members and taking other positions in the casino industry, and a newspaper report indicates Mulroy voted on matters concerning Wynn Resorts shortly before joining its board of directors.
While the work-restriction waiver was relatively routine, Mulroy and four other Nevada Gaming commissioners in August voted in favor of technical changes to Wynn Resorts’ registration orders regarding its Las Vegas properties and a proposed casino resort in Massachusetts, reported Howard Stutz of the Las Vegas Review Journal.
Eleven days after the vote, Mulroy asked the Nevada Commission on Ethics for a waiver from the one-year ban on casino industry work and said there were no disciplinary matters involving Wynn Resorts before the Gaming Commission while she was a member, and the commission only addressed routine matters during her brief tenure.
Mulroy’s appointment to the Wynn Resorts board of directors fulfills a demand by Elaine Wynn for at least one female board member. The board did not have any female directors after the board did not nominate Elaine Wynn for another term.
