Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING NOVEMBER 2018 36 in the Philippines and that it was allowable to put up a casino on that property. Looking at the Philippines at that time, they were going through an economic growth of about 7% and it was ripe for development. MC: Did you ask Mr Wynn to become a partner in that? KO: Yes, I brought that up with Steve Wynn. I took Steve Wynn FEATURES to the Philippines in June 2010 to show him. At the time, PAGCOR, the government authority in charge of licensing, was in place and we went to visit [Efraim] Genuino, then chairman of PAGCOR. Steve Wynn – when we went there – he looked at the property and he engaged for a decent amount of time in discussions with the chairman. He also discussed about trying to come back to investigate in November 2010. MC: Where did things go wrong in the Philippines with Wynn? KO: He didn’t go back to the Philippines [with me] in November. I went back to the board and I was perplexed because not only did he not go back, but he had said that there was no way he can develop something there. Not only was his sudden change of attitude perplexing, but he also started mentioning that there must be something fishy going on in the Philippines. I believe he said there must be something like bribery taking place in the Philippines. I believe he may have even mentioned in rude terms that he would never go to a place that might have possible corruption, such as the Philippines. That was about the same time he was discussing the donation to the University of Macau. I think the situation was also compounded by the fact that, up until then, I was the silent investor – I didn’t really raise any issues, My suspicion is [Steve Wynn] may have thought that with his impending divorce and losing half of his shares, the fact that I would have more shares and more control than he would, he may have feared that I was literally trying to take over his company. Steve Wynn’s ex-wife Elaine Wynn.