The casino mogul Stephen Wynn resigned Tuesday as chairman and chief executive of his company, Wynn Resorts, in response to sexual misconduct allegations spanning decades, according to The New York Times.
“It is with a collective heavy heart that the board of directors of Wynn Resorts today accepted the resignation of our founder, C.E.O. and friend Steve Wynn,” Boone Wayson, nonexecutive director of the board, said in a statement.
“Steve Wynn is an industry giant. He is a philanthropist and a beloved leader and visionary. He played the pivotal role in transforming Las Vegas into the entertainment destination it is today.”
The company said Wynn would be replaced by Matt Maddox, who has been president of Wynn Resorts since 2013.
Maddox joined the company in 2002 after working in corporate finance for what is now Caesars Entertainment.
Wynn said in the statement that he was stepping down because “an avalanche of negative publicity” had created an environment “in which a rush to judgment takes precedence over everything else, including the facts.”
A Wall Street Journal investigation, published late last month, found that Wynn, 76, had harassed female employees for decades and coerced them to have sex. Among other things, he was accused of demanding that women masturbate him or massage him naked. In at least one case, he paid a multimillion-dollar settlement.
Shortly after Stephen Wynn announced his resignation as chairman and chief executive on Tuesday, trading on shares of Wynn Macau was halted in Hong Kong.
Wynn Resorts’ stock price had already tumbled in response to the misconduct allegations, from $200.60 on Jan. 25 to $163.22 on Tuesday. Wynn is one of the company’s largest shareholders.
