Bio: Steve Wynn of Las Vegas
If any man “had a dream” about Las Vegas, it’s Steve Wynn. He first came here in 1952 with his dad and returned in 1966 after graduating from college. With the help of a local banker, he invested in The Frontier Hotel where he also worked as a slot and keno manager. Few people talk about his wife, Elaine, who had majored in finance in school and was/is a big influence in their financial decisions.
In 1971, Wynn managed a brilliant land swap between Caesar’s Palace and Howard Hughe’s Summa Corp. In 1973, he floated “junk” bonds in a time when nobody saw a real future to Las Vegas and managed to take over The Golden Nugget downtown. He created some amazing changes and turned it into a successful property.
This was the true genius of Steve Wynn, to get gaming properties on the New York Stock Exchange. He moved beyond the corporate changes made by Howard Hughes and truly legitimatized the gaming industry.
In 1980, he took over an aging, unprofitable property in Atlantic City, later selling it for a nice profit. He then began to build a mega resort on the property he owned on The Strip. The man not only has an imagination but a great sense of showmanship. While at The Frontier, he met an up and coming pair of magicians who worked with tigers and lions. He saw their potential stardom and offered them a deal if they would move to his new resort; they could design their own showroom and would be able to stay there as long as they wanted. Sigfried and Roy became the biggest draw in town and were able to do magic tricks there that they couldn’t do anywhere else. I’ve seen or read somewhere that they also have an open invitation to work with Wynn at his latest mega resort.
The Mirage was opened in 1989 and local know-it-alls said that it simply wouldn’t work. A large portion of the property was taken up by a fake volcano, a large pond, an atrium one had to go to through get into the casino, a dolphin habitat in the back and another place where one could see the White Tigers. Were they ever proved wrong!
Wynn then built Treasure Island, with a Caribbean Pirate’s theme. Once again, Wynn showed his true genius. On the opening day of The TI, he was on one of the ships in the lagoon and fired the cannon that signaled the implosion of The Dunes. Everyone remembers the implosion, but few realize how Wynn got it started.
Now we come to The Bellagio. Can it get better? You bet! He built it on the site of The Dunes that had a golf course. The reason the golf course was there was an aquifer underneath that provided water. He left some of the shrubbery in place as a barrier between his property and the freeway. He took many of the trees from the course and put them in a holding area keeping them fed and watered so he could place them around the new property when it was time. I’m told the water is still there and supplies the lake and fountains. At 1.8 billion dollars, it was the most expensive hotel in the world and you can see it everywhere you turn. Someone told me that just the public restrooms cost several hundred thousand dollars.
About four or five years ago, Wynn was bought out by MGM Grand at something around 9.8 billion. Wynn made a nice profit and bought The Desert Inn, announcing that it was his wife’s birthday present. He also said that he would build a resort that would “make The Bellagio look like a Motel 6.” He opened it on his wife’s birthday, May 19th. He also had to apply to the Gaming Commission to live on the property, a request that was granted.
Now, whether or not he was true to his word about Wynn Las Vegas, I’ll leave that to you to decide. It is clearly NOT aimed at the average Las Vegas visitor and a few of the people I’ve talked to aren’t all that impressed by it. On the other hand, some say it’s even better than The Bellagio. It’s not just the car dealership that sells Ferraris, Masseratis, and Bugatis but the circular escalator. But, it’s certainly attracting crowds.
So, Bugsey Siegel, Howard Hughes, and all the rest of youâÂ?¦move over. You don’t come close to the genius and impact upon Las Vegas that Steve Wynn has had. The sad part is, that in spite of all his money and influence, he’s going blind with an incurable eye disease. But, sometimes it doesn’t take eyesight to be a dreamer.
