Steve Wynn

Stephen Alan Wynn (né Weinberg; born January 27, 1942) is an American real estate developer and art collector. He was known for his involvement in the luxury casino and hotel industry, prior to being forced to step down in 2018. Early in his career he oversaw the construction and operation of several Las Vegas and Atlantic City hotels, including the Golden Nugget, the Golden Nugget Atlantic City, The Mirage, Treasure Island, the Bellagio, and Beau Rivage in Mississippi, and he played a pivotal role in the development of the Las Vegas Strip in the 1990s.

In 2000, Wynn sold his company, Mirage Resorts, to MGM Grand Inc., resulting in the formation of MGM Mirage (now MGM Resorts International). Wynn later took his company Wynn Resorts public in an initial public offering and was Wynn Resorts' CEO and Chairman of the Board until February 6, 2018, when he announced his resignation. He is a prominent donor to the Republican Party and was the finance chair of the Republican National Committee from January 2017 to January 2018, when he resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations, which Wynn has denied. On February 6, 2018, Wynn stepped down as CEO of Wynn Resorts.

Through Wynn Resorts, he has overseen the construction and development of several luxury resorts, opening Wynn Las Vegas in 2005, Wynn Macau in 2006, Encore Las Vegas in 2008, Encore at Wynn Macau in 2010 and Wynn Palace in Macau in 2016, and Wynn Everett near Boston which opened in June 2019 under the name Encore Boston Harbor. In 2006, Wynn was inducted into the American Gaming Association Hall of Fame. As of April 2025, Wynn's net worth was estimated by Forbes at $3.7 billion. Steve Wynn collects fine art, including pieces by artists such as Picasso and Claude Monet.

Steve Wynn was born Stephen Alan Weinberg on January 27, 1942, in New Haven, Connecticut, to a Jewish family. His father, Michael, owned a chain of bingo parlors in the eastern United States. His mother Zelma (née Kutner), was from Maine. Wynn’s father changed the family's last name in 1946 from "Weinberg" to "Wynn" when Steve was 4 years old "to avoid anti-Jewish discrimination". Wynn was raised in Utica, New York, and graduated from The Manlius School, a private boys' school east of Syracuse, New York, in 1959.

After high school, Wynn studied English literature at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. Wynn graduated in 1963 with a Bachelor of Arts. Shortly before graduation, his father died during heart surgery, leaving $350,000 in gambling debts. Wynn, who had been accepted into Yale Law School, relinquished his admission and instead took over his family's bingo parlor in Waysons Corner, Maryland.

In 1967, Wynn and his family moved to Las Vegas where he purchased a small stake in the Frontier Hotel and Casino. That year he met E. Parry Thomas, the president of the Bank of Las Vegas, which was the only bank at the time willing to extend loans to Las Vegas casinos, and Thomas helped finance several of Wynn's early land deals.

In 1971, Wynn bought a controlling interest in the Golden Nugget Las Vegas, one of the oldest casinos in the city. His company stake increased so that, in 1973, he became the majority shareholder, and the youngest casino owner in Las Vegas. In 1977 he opened the Golden Nugget's first hotel tower, followed by several others. Frank Sinatra was a periodic headliner at the Golden Nugget, and Wynn has since maintained a relationship with the Sinatra family, even naming a restaurant at Encore "Sinatra".

In 1980, Wynn began construction on the Golden Nugget Atlantic City in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was Atlantic City's first and only "locals casino" and the city's sixth casino after the city legalized gambling in 1976. Joel Bergman, who designed Wynn's other resorts, designed the Golden Nugget. Though at its opening it was the second smallest casino in the city, by 1983 it was the city's top earning casino. Wynn sold the Atlantic City Golden Nugget in 1987 for $440 million.

Wynn's first major casino on the Las Vegas Strip was The Mirage, which opened on November 22, 1989. It was the first time Wynn was involved with the design and construction of a casino, and he financed the $630 million project largely with high-yield bonds issued by Michael Milken. Its construction is also considered noteworthy in that The Mirage was the first casino to use security cameras full-time on all table games. The hotel became the main venue for the Siegfried & Roy show in 1990, and in 1993 the hotel hosted the Cirque du Soleil show Nouvelle Expérience.

During this period, University of Michigan students Bobby Kotick and Howard Marks sought Wynn's funding for Arktronics, their start-up developing GUI-based integrated software. According to Kotick, he and Marks met Wynn at the Dallas “Cattle Baron’s Ball” in September 1983; Wynn invited them onto his private McDonnell Douglas DC-9 for the flight to Atlantic City and, upon their arrival, wrote a US $300 000 check in the Golden Nugget’s basement office to capitalise their start‑up.

In the past, Wynn has financially supported both Democratic and Republican Party efforts. In 2011 he spoke in support of Nevada Senator Harry Reid. Wynn supported Barack Obama in the 2008 election.

In December 2010, Prince Albert II of Monaco bestowed Monegasque citizenship to Wynn, an unusual act since Wynn did not meet the prerequisites. According to the Las Vegas Sun, Wynn was given citizenship when he agreed to be an outside director in Monaco QD International Hotels and Resorts Management, which is a joint venture between the governments of Monaco and Qatar. The organization buys and manages hotels in Europe, the Middle East and North America.

Between 2012 and 2018, Wynn contributed more than $2.5 million to the Republican Governors Association and also donated $411,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, $248,000 to the Republican National Committee, and $100,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee. In 2016, Wynn donated $833,000 to Republican Party joint fundraising committees. After Donald Trump won the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Wynn was named a vice-chairman of Trump's inauguration committee.

After the January 2017 inauguration of Donald Trump, Wynn was named finance chairman of the Republican National Committee. In October 2017 The Wall Street Journal reported that Wynn, who has financial interests in China, lobbied President Trump on behalf of the Chinese government to return a Chinese whistleblower, Guo Wengui, to China. On January 28, 2018, Wynn resigned from the finance chairman position amid sexual misconduct allegations. In May 2021, the Department of Justice ordered Wynn to register as a foreign agent of China, and filed a civil lawsuit. He denied acting as a foreign agent and lobbying on China's behalf. The case was dismissed in October 2022.

Together with his spouse, Wynn contributed $1.5 million to Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign.

Wynn is known for amassing a large collection of fine art, often placing the pieces in his various casinos and hotels. In 2004, Wynn purchased Vermeer's A Young Woman Seated at the Virginals at a Sotheby's auction for $30 million. With the purchase, he became the first art collector to purchase a Vermeer painting in over 80 years. Wynn later sold the painting to the Leiden Collection owned by Thomas Kaplan for the same price.

In 2006, Wynn acquired J. M. W. Turner's Giudecca, La Donna Della Salute and San Giorgio for $35.8 million via an anonymous telephone auction. Although Wynn did not officially identify himself as the buyer, his identity was confirmed by two people acquainted with the transaction. Wynn purchased the painting from the St. Francis of Assisi Foundation, a White Plains-based nonprofit organization that supports Capuchin priests on their missionary trips.

Steve Wynn's private art collection with specific commentary about his paintings by Claude Monet are highlighted in the 2008 film Monet's Palate with Meryl Streep and distributed by American Public Television. The collection was on display at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno while the Wynn Las Vegas was being constructed and was installed in the resort shortly before it was opened. The Wynn Las Vegas gallery, which had charged an entrance fee, closed shortly after the start of 2006.

In 2009, he spent $33.2 million on Rembrandt's Man with His Arms Akimbo, the auction record for the artist.

Under the direction of Steve Wynn, Wynn Resorts acquired Jeff Koons's Tulips at auction in November 2012 for approximately $33.6 million. In May 2014, Wynn acquired Popeye, also by Koons, for over $28.165 million.

Wynn married Elaine Farrell Pascal in 1963. They divorced in 1986, remarried in 1991, and divorced again in 2010. Elaine Wynn was a director of the company's board for 13 years, ending in 2015. They have two daughters, Kevyn and Gillian. Kevyn was kidnapped in 1993 and Wynn paid $1.45 million in ransom for her return. The kidnappers were apprehended when one attempted to use a large sum of cash to buy a Ferrari in Newport Beach, California. Kevyn was found unharmed several hours later.

On April 30, 2011, Wynn married Andrea Hissom, great-niece of Ben Novack, in a ceremony at the Wynn Las Vegas. Actor Clint Eastwood served as the best man.

In May 2006, Time magazine included Wynn as one of the World's 100 Most Influential People. Wynn was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by President George W. Bush on October 30, 2006. In November 2006, Wynn was inducted into the American Gaming Association Hall of Fame. Forbes magazine named him to a list of "captains of capitalism" in 2007 alongside others included such as Oprah Winfrey and Jeff Bezos. Wynn was named to Institutional Investor's Best CEOs list in the All-America Executive Team Survey from 2008 through 2011.

In March 2011, Barron's named Steve Wynn one of the 30 "World's Best CEOs."

In November 2014, Wynn ranked 17th on Harvard Business Review's list of 100 best-performing CEOs in the world.

He also received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006, which was rescinded following Wynn's sexual misconduct allegations in 2018.