2012 was quite a year for both Steve Wynn and Kazuo Okada. The two casino magnates, once considered as brothers-from-different-mothers, spent the majority of the year engaged in a bitter squabble that has had more twists and turns than a season’s worth of General Hospital episodes.
Now, a year after the lid blew off of their relationship, Kazuo Okada is in danger of losing his board of directors seat in Wynn Resorts Ltd after the company’s shareholders have set February 22 as the date when they will vote on the proposed ouster of Okada from the board of directors, according to MacauBusiness.com.
The now volatile relationship between the two former friends have seen accusations and vitriol being thrown at one another, with Wynn even resorting to forcibly redeeming Okada, Wynn’s largest shareholder, of his 20 percent stake in the company and on top of that, accusing the Japanese tycoon of making illegal payments to the Philippines’ casino regulator, Pagcor, in order to secure a license to operate in the Philippines. That license can actually be considered as the seed that soiled Okada and Wynn’s relationship. The Philippine license Okada sought was something Wynn didn’t approve of, claiming that Okada’s Philippine resort would become direct competition to Macau. From there, Wynn has been on a mission to stick it to Okada by spearheading a move to remove the latter from Wynn Resorts’ board of directors.
Not one to back down from the mudslinging, Okada even shot back at Wynn, accusing the American casino magnate of fraud, deception, theft and betrayal in order to maintain control over his business. On top of that, the Japanese even filed a defamation suit against his American counterpart, pointing to his former bosom buddy as the driving force in tarnishing his name and sullying his company’s (Universal Entertainment) reputation.
At this point, who knows what other accusations these two can come up with leading up to that date. If 2012 is any indication, we’re expecting anything short of an actual steel cage match between these two. But for now, February 22 just became an important date for these two individuals.
Rest assured, you can expect tons of fireworks when the calendar flips to February 22.
