The Nevada Gaming Control Board confirmed to Wynn Resorts that company CEO Matt Maddox “remains in good standing” following the state agency’s investigation surrounding former chairman and CEO Steve Wynn that led to a record-setting fine against the company.
In a statement Wednesday, Wynn Resorts said it received written confirmation of Maddox’s current status from the regulatory body. Maddox, who was named CEO in February 2018, was “found suitable as an officer of Wynn Resorts” in January 2010.
The unusual announcement comes a week after Maddox and other company leaders were grilled during three days of hearings in Boston by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. The hearings followed the agency’s investigation of Steve Wynn and the sexual harassment scandal inside Wynn Resorts. The company is planning to open a $2.6 billion resort outside Boston in June.
Wynn Resorts spokesman Michael Weaver said Wednesday the company asked the Gaming Control Board for clarification on Maddox’s status after Massachusetts regulators mentioned an “ongoing investigation” in Nevada.
Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairwoman Sandra Douglass Morgan said in an email Wednesday the board “confirmed with Wynn Resorts that Mr. Maddox was found suitable by the Nevada Gaming Commission in January 2010 and remains in good standing.”
She said the board did not issue anything directly to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
Allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault were lodged against Steve Wynn by former company employees in a Wall Street Journal article last year. Wynn resigned his positions and sold his company stock. The Nevada Gaming Commission fined the company $20 million in February after it agreed to a stipulated settlement with the Gaming Control Board.
Massachusetts conducted its own investigation and filed a 209-page report last week that contained salacious details on the allegations against Wynn and former company executives who reportedly did nothing when confronted with charges against the now ex-CEO.
Maddox, who has been with Wynn Resorts since its founding, told Massachusetts regulators he did not know about the specifics of some private settlements his former boss reached with former casino employees who had accused him of sexual misconduct until those details became public years later.
Maddox acknowledged he should have informed regulators about the allegations in 2018 because he and other company officials were aware of the Wall Street Journal’s reporting weeks prior to publication.
Following the public hearing, Massachusetts gaming regulators said are considering privately what action to take against the company and whether or not it is suitable to hold a state gaming license for the Encore Boston Harbor.
In a statement, Wynn Resorts Chairman Phil Satre said Maddox has “the full confidence” of the entire board “as our CEO today, tomorrow, and into the future.”
Satre, who joined the Wynn board last summer during a year-long shake-up, said he did not know Maddox prior to that time. However, in the statement, Satre provided Maddox with a full-throated endorsement.
“Immediately upon taking over as CEO, Matt led the transformation of our company with a new executive team, new policies and procedures, and a new corporate culture – a transformation the Nevada regulators referred to at a hearing as a total ‘paradigm shift,’” Satre said. “No one deserves more credit, or has played a more critical role, in remaking Wynn Resorts as a company and responding to the past failures of now-departed leadership.”
Shares of Wynn Resorts closed at $141 on the Nasdaq Wednesday, up $1.74, or 1.25 percent.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
