Is Steve Wynn Out Of The Gambling Business?
By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Mar 30, 2018
Anti-online gambling casino mogul sells off his entire holding in the company he founded
Most online gambling industry observers will remember land casino billionaire Steve Wynn for his switch from being at one time interested in joining the then pioneering online gambling sector, only to later take up an opposing position on the vertical.
More recently he has become the target of sexual misconduct allegations that have seen him resign from Wynn Resorts, the successful company he founded, and he is in the news again this week after divesting himself of his considerable shareholding, reportedly for a personal gain of billions of dollars.
Macau based rival Galaxy Entertainment said the chance to buy 5 percent of Wynn Resorts from Wynn was a unique investment opportunity, and stumped up $927.5 million for 5.3 million shares at $175 each
Wynn also sold off another 4.1 million shares on the open market at $180 a share, and a further 8 million shares in privately negotiated transactions with existing shareholders, thus divesting his entire stake in the company.
Analysts are now characterising the company as having more stability and prospects following a stormy period in which the Wynn personal problems and the recently settled long-running litigation with Universal Entertainment Corp caused shareholder concerns.
Certainly Galaxy’s vice chairman Francis Lui was pleased with the deal, saying this week:
“This is a unique opportunity to acquire an investment in a globally recognized entertainment corporation with exceptionally high quality assets and a significant development pipeline.”
Infopowa news was a staple of Casinomeister’s news from 2000 until 2019. Brian Cullingworth was the main writer, contributor, and was one of the most knowledgeable persons I have ever known involved in the online casino industry.
We first met in January 2001 at the ICE in London where I observed him going booth to booth interviewing online casino, software, and licensing jurisdiction representatives. Brian was also heavily involved with our forum as “Jetset“, he was involved as an informal consultant to eCOGRA, the OPA, and was a player advocate who assisted countless aggrieved players with his connections to industry folks. He also published “Casino Cautions” via Infopowa news for quite a number of years. These can be found in our news archives.
His passing in February 2019 was a dark day for us. He will be forever missed.
Top 5 casinos
