Wynn, also the finance chairman for the Republican National Committee, paid $7.5 million to settle claims brought by a former manicurist at his resort who said the executive pressured her to have sex with him, the Journal said. Wynn pressured massage therapists to perform sex acts for $1,000 tips, and others at the spa created fictitious appointments to avoid contact with him, said the newspaper, which contacted more than 150 people who worked with the casino magnate.
Wynn, who turns 76 on Saturday, denied the allegations. “The idea that I ever assaulted any woman is preposterous,” he told the Journal. His fortune is valued at about $3.7 billion, most of it in Wynn shares, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The allegations jolted a company whose reputation is synonymous with that of its founder, who starred in TV commercials with the likes of Frank Sinatra to promote his properties.
“If the DNC truly stands up for women like they say they do, then returning Weinstein’s dirty money should be a no-brainer,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tweeted last year.
Wynn’s second-in-command and heir apparent at Wynn Resorts is Matt Maddox, a 16-year company veteran who rose from vice president of investor relations to president. Wynn is chairman of the board, whose lead director is former Nevada Governor Robert J. Miller. Maddox and Miller didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The company also announced plans for a new 2,500-room property across Las Vegas Boulevard from its current towers on the site of the former Frontier casino and is constructing a new hotel, convention and lake resort behind its existing properties.
Via (Bloomberg)