Wynn Resorts plans vote to remove Okada
Wynn Resorts Ltd. said Wednesday it plans a special shareholders' meeting to vote on removal of Steve Wynn's former business partner, Kazuo Okada, as a board member.
The meeting follows Wynn Resorts' announcement last month that a yearlong inquiry determined that Okada was an "unsuitable" person, as defined by its articles of incorporation.
The Las Vegas-based gaming company accused Okada and his associates of violating company policies and U.S. anti-corruption laws by making $110,000 in improper payments to overseas gaming regulators.
"Steve Wynn and his board of directors are once again subverting the corporate governance process to carry out the predetermined judgment of Mr. Wynn," Universal Entertainment Corp. said in a statement Wednesday.
"In attempting to unjustly remove Mr. Okada, Mr. Wynn is exerting his control over the board to silence any dissent and to divert attention from the questions surrounding the company's use of stockholder money," the statement said. "Mr. Okada is committed to protecting his interests and intends to take appropriate actions to do so."
Okada's Universal Entertainment, through its subsidiary Aruze USA Inc., owned more than 24 million shares in Wynn Resorts. The shares were worth about $2.7 billion, but Wynn Resorts forcibly redeemed the shares at $1.9 billion, 30 percent less than their value on Feb. 18.
The time and date for the shareholders' meeting have not yet been determined. Wynn Resorts said it would take a two-thirds vote to remove Okada, and that only shareholders of record on March 30 will be allowed to vote.
In its Securities and Exchange Commission filing Wednesday, the company said its investigation showed "Okada has not been acting in the best interests of the company and its stockholders."
"Mr. Okada's conduct poses a present threat to the company's reputation for probity, which is fundamental to preserving its current gaming licenses, applying for an receiving additional gaming licenses in connection with future projects," the company said.
Wynn Resorts also disclosed that Okada refused when asked to resign. Okada, 69, has already been removed from the boards of Wynn Macau Ltd. and Wynn Las Vegas Capital Corp., both subsidiaries of Wynn Resorts.
Okada has threatened to sue Wynn Resorts to recover his equity stake. In January he sued Wynn Resorts in Nevada state court seeking documents related to a pledge by the company to donate $135 million to the University of Macau Development Foundation over 10 years.
Okada has said he's invested $380 million in Wynn Resorts since 2000
Shares of Wynn Resorts gained $2.89, or 2.42 percent, Wednesday to close at $122.27 on volume of 2.23 million shares traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The stock has traded in a range of $101.02 to $172.58 over the last 52 weeks.
Contact reporter Chris Sieroty at
csieroty@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893
