Steve Wynn & Wynn resorts break | Gabelli Research Analyst Adam Trivison Invest with Us 1-800-GABELLI (800-422-3554) http://facebook.com/gabellitv G
GabelliTV Transcript: Last night, Wynn Resorts announced the resignation of founder Steve Wynn from his roles as CEO and Chairman of the Board. According to the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Wynn will continue to live at the Las Vegas property for another year and will maintain his 12% stake in the company.
Long-time board member Boone Wayson will assume the role of non-executive chairman and President Matt Maddox will assume the role of CEO. We believe that Mr. Wynn’s departure does quite a bit in removing political and regulatory risk for Wynn Resorts; particularly in Massachusetts where at a recent hearing regulators emphasized that the gaming commission’s next moves would be heavily influenced by how the company and its board handled the matter.
We continue to believe that Mr. Wynn’s quintessential strength lies in his resort design abilities, so much so that his resorts have demonstrated superior performance under the management of other companies – for example Bellagio which under MGM’s management continues to outperform in Las Vegas.
Thus Wynn’s assets will hold their value in an M&A scenario, which admittedly is more likely given Mr. Wynn’s departure. We believe there may be interest for the company’s assets, potentially from LVS, MGM, CZR, Galaxy Entertainment or other Chinese buyers.
