Steve Wynn Out As CEO And Chairman Of Wynn Resorts

Steve Wynn has resigned as the CEO and chairman of the board of Wynn Resorts. Wynn, 76, announced his resignation in a statement released late Tuesday night, according to NBC News. “I have found myself the focus of an avalanche of negative publicity,” Wynn said in the statement. “As I have reflected upon the environment this has created – one in which a rush to judgment takes precedence over everything else, including the facts – I have reached the conclusion I cannot continue to be effective in my current roles.” Wynn announced that Matt Maddox, the current president of Wynn Resorts, will take over his role as CEO. The Las Vegas mogul’s ouster comes one week after he was accused of a decades-long pattern of sexual harassment and abuse toward workers at his casinos, according to The Wall Street Journal. One day after the Journal reported on the alleged history of sexual misconduct, Wynn was forced to resign from his position as finance chair for the Republican National Committee, a position he had held for almost a year. BREAKING: Steve Wynn steps down as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Wynn Resorts. pic.twitter.com/uDobVX2eiM The Journal interviewed more than 100 current and former employees. They accused the billionaire of sexual misconduct ranging from lewd comments and intimidation to inappropriate touching and solicitation of sex acts. A former manicurist at Wynn Las Vegas told the newspaper that Wynn pressured her into having sex with him despite objecting to his advances after she gave him a manicure in 2005. Wynn denied the accusation in a statement shared with HuffPost, but he reportedly paid the woman a $7.5 million settlement after she filed a report to human resources. A former massage therapist at the spa in Wynn Las Vegas told the Journal she had felt pressured to agree to Wynn’s request to massage his penis to ejaculation, a practice that went on for several months. She said Wynn did not pay her more for the request. The massage therapist told the Journal that she eventually told Wynn she was uncomfortable with his requests. Wynn stopped requesting her for massages after that, she said. Jorgen Gielsen, a former artistic director at the Wynn’s salon told the Journal that the salon’s employees were “petrified” of Wynn and would hide in bathrooms and closets when he approached.  A Wynn Resorts representative told HuffPost last week that the company requires its employees to receive annual anti-harassment training, adding that they also offer an anonymous hotline for harassment claims. “Since the inception of the company, not one complaint was made to that hotline regarding Mr. Wynn,” the representative said. In his resignation statement, Wynn said that the “institution we created … will remain standing for the long term. I am extremely proud of everything we have built at this company. Most of all, I am proud of our employees.” Nevada’s Gaming Control Board, which is involved in regulating the state’s casinos, is investigating the sexual misconduct allegations. 

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