Steve Wynn receives $12.5M in stock as part of compensation

The new year has started off well for Steve Wynn.

The Wynn Resorts Ltd. chief executive officer last week received $12.5 million in company stock as part of his 2016 compensation package, up from $8.75 million in stock a year earlier, indicating he might receive his highest payout in years.

Wynn Resorts developed a new executive compensation package in 2014 that slashed Wynn’s fixed salary from $4 million to $2.5 million and divided his performance compensation into both shares and cash.

Wynn received incentive compensation of $17.5 million for 2015 and $20 million for 2014 in equal amounts of shares and cash.

Last week’s announcement might indicate he will receive $25 million in total incentive compensation for 2016, the maximum allowed by the plan. A Wynn Resorts spokeswoman was not immediately able to say whether Wynn received cash compensation last week as well and whether it was equal to his stock compensation of $12.5 million.

The performance payout is tied to Wynn Resorts’ property earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization as well as progress on Wynn Palace, the company’s third resort in Macau, according to SEC filings. The 1,706-room Wynn Palace opened in August.

Wynn Resort shares rallied 25 percent in 2016, more than doubling the performance of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, amid its expansion in Macau and improving performance at its resorts in Las Vegas. Wynn Resorts is a member of the S&P 500 index.

Wynn received 137,468 shares of Wynn Resorts on Thursday, according to the SEC filling. He immediately sold 57,668 at $90.93, pocketing $5.2 million before taxes. That is his second disposition of stock in the past month. In December, Wynn donated about $7 million in stock to charity. The company declined to comment on the recipient of the donation.

Wynn still owns 12.1 million shares, or 11.9 percent of Wynn Resorts, after those dispositions. At Monday’s closing stock price of $92.64. his stake is valued at $1.12 billion. Las Vegas brokerage Union Gaming Securities has a 12-month price target of $95 on Wynn Resorts stock, implying 2.5 percent upside.

In addition to salary and compensation, Wynn also receives about $24 million a year in dividends from his Wynn Resorts stake.

Contact Todd Prince at 702-383-0386 or tprince@reviewjournal.com. Follow @toddprincetv on Twitter.