For sanity’s sake, let’s turn from a buffoon (Donald Trump) to a serious individual. Namely, Steve Wynn, who’s been named to Barrons‘ list of the world’s 30 best CEOs. He’s up there surrounded by the likes of Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs … and without another casino CEO anywhere in sight. I’ll bet Sheldon Adelson‘s minions are tiptoeing around their boss extra-quietly this week. At least Sheldon could derive solace from a “Buy” rating from Robin Farley, not one of Wall Street‘s Kool-Aid drinkers.
While one could cite Wynn’s prudence and fiscal conservatism even at the height of the Vegas bubble, Barrons focuses instead on Wynn Resorts‘ disproportionately strong performance in Macao, where it generated $893 million in cash flow last year. Having the confidence to give Wynn Las Vegas an expensive makeover, even in the face of a bad economy, didn’t hurt El Steve’s standing, either. It’s another reminder that, when discussing the last quarter-century in the casino business, Steve Wynn has to be placed in a category unto himself. If he hadn’t come along when he did, the industry would have spent the Nineties stranded out in the desert, scratching its collective butt and fumbling around in search of its car keys.
As a consolation prize, Adelson can point to his prediction that we’re just at the beginning of casino expansion in the Pacific Rim. It seems to be coming true — and quickly. (Well, Japan continues to ponder and mull, but it’s got other, more pressing concerns right now.*) The huge ramp-up of tourism brought on in Singapore by the openings of Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa could soon inspire Fiji and Sri Lanka (still “Ceylon” to me, but that’s my age talking) to follow suit. Vietnam, for its part, could liberalize its gambling laws in order to not get left behind in the revenue race. If so, how prescient was it of MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren to plant his company’s flag on the Ho Tram Strip?
* — If I had a dollar for every time casino legalization was “imminent” in the Land of the Rising Sun, I could afford a room at Mandarin Oriental.
Earlier, Wynn also made headlines by tacitly breaking with the party line on Internet gambling. The CEO joined the chorus of companies trying to pressure Congress into placing online poker under federal regulation. However, he also inked a pact with PokerStars.com, which is lobbying hard for state-sanctioned ‘Net betting in Nevada and fielding an impressive group of lobbyists. As the Las Vegas Sun points out, Wynn (the company) doesn’t belong to opposing forces, led by the Nevada Resort Association. This leaves El Steve with a mile-wide loophole if Nevada legislators rush in where federal solons fear to tread.
