Executives of the “new” Wynn Resorts plan to argue before the Massachusetts Gaming Commission that the Wynn company has been transformed from the company that Steve Wynn founded, ran, and then fled from last year after divesting himself from all company stock.
The MGC plans to begin hearings on the continued suitability of the company to operate the $2.6 billion Encore Boston Harbor on April 1.
Wynn resigned as chief executive officer and president in February 2018 after accusations of multiple sexual harassments were exposed in a Wall Street Journal piece the month before.
In a letter to shareholders ahead of the annual meeting in May, Wynn Chairman Phil Satre said the company has now “found our way out,” transforming from a “founder-led company” to a global enterprise led by a “refreshed, capable, independent and accountable board of directors.”
“In my 40-year career both in and out of gaming, I have never seen a company respond so quickly and decisively to adversity as this one,” Satre wrote. “Despite the challenges we faced on numerous fronts, last year was a successful year for Wynn Resorts financially and, more importantly, culturally. I am confident we have found our way and I’m excited about the future of Wynn Resorts.”
Wynn’s past has so far indelibly stained the company, something that the executives who now run it have tried to expunge from its corporate culture.
The Boston Herald got a hint of what the company will tell the commission when it was provided a memo by the company that has been filed with the state. “Over the past 12 months, Wynn Resorts has undergone a corporate transformation,” reads the memo. “The individuals who failed to live up to the company’s high standards and values have all been removed.” Including Steve Wynn, says the memo.
Since the founder left the company has independently investigated to discover which higher ups knew about Wynn’s accusations and did little or nothing about it.
It got rid of several members of its board of directors and executive team, except for Matthew Maddox, who is now chief executive officer.
It adopted a new, stricter “Preventing Harassment and Discrimination Policy” that applies to the highest level.
It will immediately report any instances of harassment to gaming regulators in Massachusetts and Nevada. Nevada just imposed a $20 million fine on the company for Wynn’s alleged activities, the largest such fine in the state’s history.
All employees will be required to attend sexual harassment training.
The company has created a process for investigating all such complaints and has hired former Boston Police Commission Ed Davis to help run its “compliance program.”
It ends by committing that “the inappropriate breakdown of controls experienced by the company during the Steve Wynn era never happens again.”
Satre says the company has created a new relationship with regulators.
“A critical step in achieving stability was to rebuild our relationship with regulators, beginning with fully supporting their investigations of the company,” he said. “I believe that complete transparency and cooperation are essential to creating a relationship of trust with regulators. We are now on the road to rebuilding that trust.”
Satre said the company was willing to bring the entire board to Massachusetts for the hearing, but confirmed that former Clinton press secretary Dee Dee Myers and Elaine Wynn, Steve’s ex-wife, co-founder of the company and its largest shareholder/
Others scheduled to testify include Maddox; Ellen Whittemore, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary; Craig Billings, CFO and treasurer; Robert DeSalvio: Encore Boston Harbor president; Rose Huddleston, senior vice president of human resources; Jacqui Krum, senior vice president and general counsel, Brian Gullbrants, Encore Boston Harbor executive vice president of operations; and James Stern, head of security
The company is preparing for a June opening for the massive casino that overlooks the Mystic River with the Boston skylight in the background. It is already holding job fairs to fill 5,800 positions.
