Wynn Resigns From Company Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations

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February 7, 2018 7:13 AM

Casino mogul Stephen Wynn resigned Tuesday as chairman and chief executive of his company, Wynn Resorts, in response to sexual misconduct allegations spanning decades.

In a statement, Wynn said 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.”

He will 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, one of the most magnetic and polarizing figures in the gambling industry, was the subject of an in-depth Wall Street Journal investigation published late last month. The Journal found that Wynn, 76, had harassed female employees for decades and coerced them into sex.

Among other things, he was accused of demanding that women masturbate him or massage him naked. A manicurist said that when she went to his office for an appointment in 2005, he pressured her to disrobe, lie on his massage table and have sex. The woman told co-workers about the episode at the time and filed a human resources report. Ultimately, Wynn paid her a $7.5 million settlement, according to The Journal.

Wynn has denied all the allegations, calling them “preposterous.”

Within a day of the article’s publication, Wynn, a major Republican donor, stepped down as finance chairman of the Republican National Committee. A few days later, the University of Pennsylvania revoked his honorary degree and removed his name from a campus plaza and scholarship. And the Massachusetts Gaming Commission promised an investigation, as Wynn Resorts is building a multibillion-dollar casino outside Boston.

After Wynn announced his resignation Tuesday, the commission said it would “need to assess the overall impact and implications of this significant development.”

In a statement, the company’s board said it had accepted Wynn’s resignation “reluctantly.”

Wynn is the latest in a growing series of prominent men, from actors to politicians to journalists, who have been accused of sexual harassment or assault since The New York Times published an exposé on movie mogul Harvey Weinstein in October. Many have resigned or been fired as a result.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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