Steve Wynn hates America; NetEnt inks Jaxx SE; Betfair buyback

steve-wynn-hates-americaCasino magnate Steve Wynn (of Wynn Resorts fame) has been granted Monegasque citizenship. In case you were wondering, that means he’s now a citizen of Monaco. The honor was bestowed upon Wynn by Prince Albert II, following Wynn’s agreeing to serve as an outside director on a joint venture between Monaco and Qatar. The precise nature of the joint venture is not yet publicly known, but in August the two governments announced their intention to work together on purchasing and managing resorts across the globe. Before über-patriot Sarah Palin goes on Fox News to ask Wynn why he doesn’t kiss Monaco if he loves it so much, Steve doesn’t plan on renouncing his Yankee citizenship, nor will he be failing to file a tax form this April.

Swedish software providers NetEntertainment AB have inked a deal with Germany’s JAXX SE, a publicly traded investment group with interests in multiple online gambling operators, including Jaxx.com and Mybet.com. The deal will see NetEnt supply JAXX Group’s 1m+ registered players with regular instant-play and download games via its popular CasinoModule platform. A spokesman for Mybet.com touted the deal as helping the company “achieve our aggressive casino growth plans.”

Finally, for one investor, there was something to cheer about the dramatic plunge in Betfair’s stock price earlier this month. The company’s finance director, Stephen Morana, snapped up £100k worth of the devalued stock just after the company released that dire half-year interim report. Hopefully Morana’s acquisition of the 9,641 shares wasn’t intended as a Christmas present for his wife, because she already owned close to 4,000 shares of her own. Regardless, Mrs. Morana may be pissed that her hubby didn’t wait until the company releases its full-year report later in 2011, after which the same amount of shares presumably could have been acquired for a good deal less cash.