Steve Wynn Agrees to Pay $10M and Cut Ties with Nevada Gaming

Steve Wynn, the former CEO of Wynn Resorts, has agreed to pay a fine of $10 million to settle his outstanding trouble in Nevada. In addition, the mogul will leave Nevada gaming for good.

Mr Wynn has been in hot water in the state after he was accused of sexual abuse and misconduct against female employees in 2019. At the time, Wynn served as chairman of the company.

As a result of the allegations, Wynn was deemed unsuitable to hold a gaming license in the state. In his new settlement, he agrees to never be involved in Nevada’s gaming industry. This means that he will never serve as an officer or executive with a Nevada gaming company. However, he will not be disallowed to have passive ownership of less than 5% of any licensed gaming company.

Wynn signed the agreement this Monday. If the Nevada Gaming Control Board signs off the settlement, this would mark the end of the four-year conflict. The authority is expected to make its decision next week.

Representatives of the two parties declined to comment on the matter before the commission makes its final decision. Despite that, Kirk Hendrick, chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board signed the settlement.

Wynn’s Alleged Misconduct Caused His Company a Lot of Trouble

In 2018, Steve Wynn sold his Wynn Resorts stock, resigned from his position as CEO and gave up on his gambling license. Because of that, he claimed that gaming authorities should not have power over him. In addition, the real-estate developer continues to deny the allegations.

In 2020, a judge agreed that Wynn should be outside of the control board’s jurisdiction. However, the regulator succeeded in appealing the decision in 2022.

Now, despite his denial of the accusations, Wynn has agreed to forfeit his right to a public hearing and pay a $10 million settlement. However, even if the Gaming Control Board agrees to sign the settlement, he will still be subject to disciplinary action, should he breach the terms.

In addition to the action against Steve Wynn, the Nevada regulator previously reprimanded Wynn Resorts over its failure to report, investigate or prevent Wynn’s misconduct. As a result, the company was forced to pay a $20 million fine. The allegations also led to the company paying a $35 million fine in Massachusetts.

Following Wynn’s leave, the company introduced changes to its policies in the hope of weeding out harassment from its corporate culture.

In other news, the US government appealed a decision that exonerated Wynn from foreign agent allegations.