Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING NOVEMBER 2018 38 FEATURES already made its mind up to kick me out. 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, plus the timing of when I was asking for more directors, he may have feared that I was literally trying to take over his company. MC: But you never wanted to? KO: Absolutely not. Even when I initially started asking him to get involved, I had thought that if the Philippines project was successful, having 50% of Wynn Resorts alongside that success was enough. Wynn Resorts would profit from an expanded operation in the Philippines and so Wynn Resorts would be a bigger and stronger company. Having a 50% share of a bigger and stronger company would be enough for me. I had no initial plans of wanting to take over, but Steve Wynn – basically fearing that he was going to lose control – did anything within his power, including using the Freeh report, to basically slander and rub dirt and make me look negative and a criminal, in order to drive me out so that he would not lose control. The method they took was the redemption of shares. I thought it was incredible that they could be redeemed … forcibly bought back. If someone can do that – globally speaking – what shares in a corporation are safe if someone can accuse you of something and say that you’re not fit or worthy of holding those shares? What corporate stock, what individual ownership of corporate stock is ever safe? The Freeh report was shown as flawed, which indicates Wynn Resorts took an innocent man and drew him up to be a criminal. I was vindicated, Wynn withdrew its case, saying there were no grounds to proceed further. MC: So why didn’t you sue Wynn Resorts or challenge the settlement? KO: I would contemplate filing a separate suit against Wynn Resorts. MC: What did you learn from working with Steve Wynn? KO: He may not be good at many things, but one thing – design and construction, but mainly design – I’ve rarely met anyone who could get himself intricately involved and concentrated on that aspect of a project. He is a very charismatic person in that field. MC: Did you feel any sense of justice with his exit from Wynn Resorts after what he did to you? KO: When we first met, he was more down-to-earth, more laid back. He was very respectful. There are things [he’s] being accused of that in the early times, he wasn’t like that. Granted, after the explosive success that Wynn Resorts had, perhaps it went a little to his head ... he became a little full of himself. MC: Arrogant? KO: Arrogant, yes. Ed: Wynn Resorts and Steve Wynn did not accept invitations to respond. Okada Manila opened in December 2016, just a few months before Okada’s ouster from Universal Entertainment.