Former RNC Finance Chair Steve Wynn Steps Down As CEO Of Wynn Resorts

Steve Wynn stepped down as the Republican National Committee’s finance chief after allegations of sexual misconduct piled up. The allegations included “lewd comments and inappropriate touching to soliciting sex acts from women who worked as manicurists and massage therapists at Wynn’s Las Vegas casinos.”

Wynn originally said the allegations were “the continued work of my ex-wife Elaine Wynn, with whom I am involved in a terrible and nasty lawsuit in which she is seeking a revised divorce settlement.”

“The idea that I ever assaulted any woman is preposterous,” Wynn said. “We find ourselves in a world where people can make allegations, regardless of the truth, and a person is left with the choice of weathering insulting publicity or engaging in multi-year lawsuits.”

Things aren’t getting any better for Wynn. He’s stepping down as the CEO of Wynn Resorts.

Statement of Steve Wynn released by Wynn Resorts in announcing his departure: “I have reached the conclusion I cannot continue to be effective in my current roles” https://t.co/8HQ1uVVaUn pic.twitter.com/z5RXNUbHIa

— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) February 7, 2018

I think Steve Wynn’s plastic surgeon should step down as well. #MeToo

— NUFF (@nuffsaidNY) February 7, 2018

(Totally agree.)

Wynn Resorts says CEO Steve Wynn has resigned effective immediately amid allegations of sexual misconduct. https://t.co/outHTVuNKs

— The Associated Press (@AP) February 7, 2018

“It is with a collective heavy heart, that the board of directors of Wynn Resorts today accepted the resignation of our founder, CEO and friend Steve Wynn,” non-executive director of the board Boone Wayson said in a statement. “Steve Wynn is an industry giant. He is a philanthropist and a beloved leader and visionary. He played the pivotal role in transforming Las Vegas into the entertainment destination it is today. He also assembled a world-class team of executives that will continue to meet the high standards of excellence that Steve Wynn created and the Wynn brand has come to represent.”

The board has appointed Matt Maddox, currently the company’s president, to be the CEO, the statement said.

Wynn still denies the claims. He maintains he did nothing wrong. He attributes his decision to the “environment this has created.”

In a statement provided by the company, the former CEO did not admit to any wrongdoing, but instead pointed to the “environment” created by the allegations themselves:

“In the last couple of weeks, I have found myself the focus of an avalanche of negative publicity. 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,” he said.

To be continued…

h/t CNBC