The Wynn/Okada saga seems to be never ending as it reached new heights today. Another entrant – namely The Louisiana Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System, which holds Wynn Resorts stock – has joined in on the litigation against Wynn Resorts and filed a lawsuit late Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas.
The filing is asking not only for financial damages but a stop to any further donations to the University of Macau.
A report by the Las Vegas Review Journal states the case was styled as a “shareholder derivative action”, that is, where a shareholder sues on behalf of the company when it contends that directors and officers have not done their job of managing the company in the best interests of investors.
The case follows the position of Kazuo Okada – formerly the company’s largest shareholder through his Aruze USA – and that his company used a $135 million in a pledge to the university to gain favour for expanding in Macau.
The lawsuit also notes that redeeming Okada’s stock at a steep discount and pushing him out as a board member is “proving expensive to the company” but at the same time allows chairman and CEO Stephen Wynn “to maintain virtually absolute control over the company he founded.”
The report concludes that the company’s Board of Directors have unsurprisingly sided with Steve Wynn, but state that the public feud has ensured “the company’s goodwill and reputation have also been horribly damaged”.
A Wynn spokeswoman refused to comment on the case.
