Wynn: It’s Elaine’s company now; Caesars reverses itself

When Elaine Wynn speaks, Wynn Resorts is suddenly all ears. Last week the company’s plurality shareholder called for a largely new and diverse board of directors, in what is describes as a “first step” toward greater heterogeneousness. Presto! Who should be named to the board but former White House press secretary Dee Dee Meyers, Betsy Atkins and Wendy Webb. Atkins is described as “a corporate governance advocate,” and former Disney exec Webb is CEO Kestrel Advisors, “which advises corporations on growth initiatives, governance, investor relations and strategic issues.” “The Wynn Resorts board now comprises 36% women, bringing Wynn into the top 40 S&P 500 companies in terms of female board representation,” read the formal announcement. Aside from a significant infusion of diversity, two of the three new appointments address one of the foremost criticisms of the board of directors: that it was too passive to the whims of the executive suite. As for the extant, much-criticized board, another head has rolled: J. Edward Virtue will be departing next month. Global Gaming Business reports that corporate consigliere Kim Sinatra is on the way out, possibly to be followed by CEO Matt Maddox. If that’s true, it means Maddox never got a chance to shake his image as a mere caretaker.

A suddenly diversity-driven Maddox swallowed hard and stated, “These appointments signify a turning point for us, and I look forward to working with each of our new directors as we usher in a new era at Wynn.” Yes, but will he be around to enjoy that “new era”?

* Hard Rock International is thoroughly exorcising the ghost of Donald Trump from what will soon become Hard Rock Atlantic City. It’s even changed all the plumbing. But as much as CEO Jim Allen says Hard Rock “is not a gaming brand,” it really is — arguably the strongest brand in the industry.

* Caesars Entertainment has done a 180 on its land-based casino for Horseshoe Southern Indiana. Initially it pulled the application because it didn’t want Centaur Gaming to pay a $50 million transfer fee (which would make Caesars’ acquisition of Centaur more expensive). However, the Roman empire has subsequently asked the Indiana Gaming Commission for a special hearing in which to consider the dry-land casino. We don’t know what motivated CEO Mark Frissora‘s about-face but we applaud the move. Riverboat casinos are an anachronism that the industry should shed whenever possible.

* Our “George of the Week” is Station Casinos, which is offering Boarding Pass members one free wager — as much as $250 — on the upstart Golden Knights, fresh from stomping Sacramento en route to an unlikely Stanely Cup bid. The Kings have to go all the way for the wagers to be valid and the biggest payout would be only $1,000 but we like what Station is doing and hope more casino chains emulate it.

* Sociedade de Jogos de Macau gets our eco-friendly nod this week for getting with the environmental program and introducing a new fleet of shuttle buses. SJM will deploy a mixture of electric and compressed-natural-gas vehicles in what can only be described as a step forward for pollution-befogged Macao. In other Sino-technical news, Lantai Digital Application Technology had to walk back a statement that its cryptocurrency was being used by several Macanese junket operators. Suncity Group, Tak Chun Group, Meg-Star Group, Guangdong Group and David Group all disavowed their ‘adoption’ of Lantai’s technology and reserved the right to sue. The Judiciary Police will also be looking into Lantai, which has to be feeling pretty uneasy this week.