Steve Wynn Agrees to Stay Out of Nevada’s Gambling Industry

Former casino magnate Steve Wynn, an inventor of the modern Las Vegas Strip, has agreed to an effective ban from Nevada’s gambling industry in a settlement over his alleged sexual misconduct against former employees. 

Wynn, who resigned as chairman and chief executive of Wynn Resorts in 2018, has also agreed to pay the state a $10 million fine, according to an agreement with Nevada gambling regulators posted on the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s website. The Nevada Gaming Commission approved the settlement Thursday.

He left the company after The Wall Street Journal published an article detailing allegations of sexual misconduct by Wynn toward employees. The allegations included that Wynn paid $7.5 million to settle a claim by a manicurist at the Wynn Las Vegas salon who claimed he forced her to have sex. Wynn, 81 years old, sold his remaining stake in Wynn Resorts—which operates the Wynn and Encore casinos on the Strip—in March 2018. 

Wynn didn’t admit to any wrongdoing in the settlement agreement. He has denied the accusations, saying the idea he would ever assault a woman was preposterous.

Wynn and the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the state’s investigative unit overseen by the Gaming Commission, signed the settlement agreement July 17. Wynn’s attorney, J. Colby Williams, declined to comment Thursday. The settlement only impacts his dealings in Nevada.

Under the settlement, Wynn must remain “entirely removed from any direct or indirect involvement” with Nevada gambling companies including financing, advertising and consulting. 

Nevada gambling regulators have argued that Wynn’s alleged misconduct damaged the reputation of the state’s most prized industry. Regulators and Wynn’s attorneys have been in a yearslong dispute after the state’s investigation into the misconduct allegations.  

The settlement, which is linked to a complaint filed by the Nevada Gaming Control Board in October 2019, allows for Wynn to have passive ownership of 5% or less in a publicly traded company registered with Nevada gambling regulators. 

Regulators sought to revoke Wynn’s status as a person suitable to hold a casino license, a key requirement to do business in the industry. Wynn’s attorneys challenged the state’s authority over him, saying he had already left the industry and was willing to stay out. 

Under the new agreement, Wynn could be found unsuitable and be ordered to pay more fines if he violates the terms of the settlement.

The commission is also penalizing Wynn himself, in part because its 2019 investigation found “a pattern of Mr. Wynn recklessly engaging in sexual conduct with subordinate employees, which even if it was consensual as maintained by Mr. Wynn, is oblivious to the significant power imbalance between the CEO of a major gaming company and subordinate employees.”

The Nevada Gaming Commission in 2019 levied a $20 million fine against Wynn Resorts—the largest fine in the state gambling industry’s history—after the company admitted to having ignored complaints by employees.

Write to Katherine Sayre at [email protected]