CLAIMS TO FAME
- Just the third ever CEO of Wynn Resorts
- Held executive roles at IGT and Aristocrat
It is a nod to just how comfortably Craig Billings has settled into the top job at Wynn Resorts since the February 2022 departure of predecessor Matt Maddox that he has already earned himself a contract extension.
In June, the company announced a four-year extension to Billings’ employment contract, taking him through until at least 1 June 2027 and with a nice little increase to his salary and bonus entitlements to boot.
While the company didn’t outline the specific reasons for the extension, there is no doubt the 48-year-old has wasted no time in guiding it forward with aggressive expansion plans in place both domestically and abroad.
Arguably Wynn’s most ambitious expansion project right now is in the United Arab Emirates, where development of a US$3.9 billion integrated resort with casino gaming – the region’s first – is already underway. Described by Billings in the company’s 2Q23 earnings call as a “stunner”, the new Wynn Al Marjan Island is due to open in 2027 with around 1,500 rooms, suites and villas, the UAE’s first casino, 24 dining and lounge experiences, innovative spa and wellness experiences, a high-end shopping esplanade, a state-of-the-art events center, a theater hosting a unique production show, and more.
Wynn is also among the many gaming operators bidding for a New York license and has gained city approval for a significant expansion of its Encore Boston Harbor project in Massachusetts.
But most pleasing for Billings must be the simple pleasure of seeing Macau booming again. Home to two of Wynn’s integrated resorts in peninsula property Wynn Macau and Cotai’s Wynn Palace, the company inked in December a new 10-year gaming concession through until 2032 and has since seen revenues soar again following the reopening of Macau’s borders on 8 January.
Having endured three years of heavy losses, local subsidiary Wynn Macau Ltd reported 1Q23 operating income of US$47.1 million and Adjusted Property EBITDAR of US$155.8 million, rising to US$127.5 million and US$246.2 million respectively in Q2.
The recent completion of a multi-million dollar revamp of gaming and other space on the peninsula has helped, while Billings himself has lauded Wynn Palace’s ability to lure former junket players back either via the company’s VIP direct or premium mass offerings.
Billings, just the third CEO in Wynn’s history after Maddox and company founder Steve Wynn, brings serious financial chops to the role, having previously held executive and board positions with Aristocrat Leisure Limited, NYX Gaming Group, IGT and Goldman Sachs.
He first crossed paths with Wynn Chairman Phil Satre more than a decade ago during a brief two-year stint as Chief of Staff and Head of Corporate Development for IGT, before spending time with Aristocrat in both Australia and the United Kingdom. But it was after leaving Aristocrat in late 2016 that Maddox, then Wynn’s President and Chief Financial Officer, came knocking.
The pair worked closely together, and when Maddox was tapped to replace Steve Wynn as CEO in 2018 Billings made the natural step up into the CFO role.
He was later called on to lead the company’s digital arm, Wynn Interactive Ltd, and was announced as such in mid-2021 before a failed SPAC merger saw the company’s direction change and Billings pegged instead to replace Maddox as CEO of the full Wynn Resorts group, as well as its Macau subsidiary.
For the full list of 2023 Asian Gaming Power 50 winners, click here.