Elaine Wynn files new documents, affirms contentions
New court documents, including excerpts from recently conducted depositions of members of the Wynn board of directors, have been filed by the former wife of Wynn Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn.
Representatives of Elaine Wynn, co-founder of Wynn Resorts, said Tuesday the new documents affirm her contention that Steve Wynn “set a tone at the top of the company that has given rise to years of unchecked business activities and reckless behavior …”
Steve Wynn responded with a statement through a spokesperson that said Elaine Wynn “is simply recycling the same lies and distortions she has sought to promulgate in an attempt to embarrass Mr. Wynn, his fellow board members and colleagues.”
The new filings are the second public statements issued in eight days by Elaine Wynn concerning a counterclaim filed in Clark County District Court as part of Wynn Resorts’ lawsuit against former business partner Kazuo Okada and his company, Aruze USA Inc., and Okada’s countersuit against Wynn.
The counterclaim is connected to Elaine Wynn’s ouster from the Wynn board of directors a year ago.
The new documents include redacted sworn deposition testimony from Wynn directors former Nevada Gov. Robert Miller, D. Boone Wayson and Ray Irani.
Elaine Wynn said the depositions provide “new facts that were not previously disclosed to Ms. Wynn.”
Elaine Wynn said she was not allowed to raise corporate issues internally and that now that she is off the board, legal action was her only recourse.
She is seeking a judicial determination that the January 2010 stockholders’ agreement that prohibits her from transferring stock that she owns without Steve Wynn’s permission and gives him all rights to vote her stock, is invalid and unenforceable.
The new complaint says, “Mr. Wynn has intentionally kept the Wynn Resorts board in the dark and has turned the general counsel of the company into his co-conspirator. He has engaged in reckless, risk-taking behavior, leaving himself vulnerable to allegations of serious wrongdoing — that he made a multimillion-dollar payment and used company resources to silence and that he did not properly disclose to the board of directors.
Steve Wynn said there was no reason for his ex-wife to issue a press release on the new filings.
“She is promising verification for these same tired allegations without delivering on them,” Steve Wynn’s statement said. “There was no legal reason for her press release. Her only motivation is an attempt to harm Mr. Wynn and Wynn Resorts and conduct the trial of her unfounded allegations in the press rather than in court where they are destined to be proved false.
“Mr. Wynn has used every possible personal resource he has to try to address Ms. Wynn’s requests, including offering to buy all or part of her stock as recently as the days immediately prior to the filing of her amended counterclaim on March 28,” the statement said.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Find him on Twitter: @RickVelotta
