Just over a week after accusations of sexual misconduct led him to step down as Finance Chair for the Republican National Committee, Steve Wynn has resigned as CEO and Chairman of Wynn Resorts, the company announced Tuesday.
Effective immediately, Wynn will be replaced as CEO by Wynn Resorts president Matt Maddox, while Boone Wayson has been named Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors.
In a statement released Tuesday night, the company said it had “reluctantly” accepted Wynn’s resignation “with a collective heavy heart.”
“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,” Wynn said in a separate statement. “Therefore, effective immediately, I have decided to step down as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Wynn Resorts, a company I founded and that I love.”
On Jan. 26, Wynn was accused in a Wall Street Journal investigative report of dozens of acts of sexual misconduct stretching back decades. Among the accusations: a woman who later received a $7.5 million settlement told the WSJ that in 2005 Wynn “pressured her to take her clothes off” and have sex; ex-employees said Wynn would walk around in “extremely short shorts without underwear,” often exposing his genitals; and a former massage therapist said Wynn would take off his towel and instruct her to “massage his penis to climax.”
Though Wynn denied the accusations in a statement to the WSJ, the day after the story was published he resigned as RNC finance chair. Over the following days, Wynn Resorts stocks dropped significantly.
In its announcement Tuesday, Wynn Reports touted the company’s commitment “being an inclusive and supportive employer,” and noted that “more than 40 percent of all Wynn Las Vegas management are women; the highest in the gaming industry.”