"Steve Wynn built casino fortune with bold designs, tenacity" March 11, 2012|By Mark Arsenault
LAS VEGAS - In recent interviews at his office and his home - a two-story villa adorned with artistic masterpieces like a room in the Louvre or the lair of a James Bond villain - Steve Wynn was the picture of a Vegas high-roller on vacation: tanned and relaxed with a brilliant smile, dressed in jeans and a sports coat. His two German shepherds drowsed on the floor next to his secretary’s desk....
Wynn is adamant: It is not the money that attracts him to Foxborough, where the casino magnate wants to build a gambling resort.
When someone says it is not about the money, it is about the money.
At 70, the restless billionaire could hardly spend what he already has.
“I can’t explain it,’’ said Wynn, an obsessive designer of elaborate buildings and landscapes, ranked by Forbes as the world’s 491st richest person. “I never thought of it in terms of the money. It’s something I can do and when I’m doing it, I’m in love with it.’’
In addition to design, Wynn loves to compete - and he’s used to winning. In a video message to Foxborough voters this month, Wynn presented himself as a soft-spoken Mr. Rogers character in a knit sweater, but he’s also a swaggering, brass-knuckled businessman who doesn’t shy from controversy or confrontation.
He’s made headlines recently for an epic legal battle with a former partner, Kazuo Okada, whom Wynn is purging from his company in a forced buyout after hiring a former FBI director to investigate him.
If his plans are approved by Foxborough, Wynn would go head-to-head against a competitor from the Las Vegas strip. Suffolk Downs in East Boston is proposing a casino in partnership with Caesars Entertainment, which runs Caesars Palace. Caesars CEO Gary Loveman is “a friend,’’ said Wynn, as is Suffolk Downs investor Joseph O’Donnell.
But Wynn boasts that the Suffolk Downs crew, despite their pledge to invest at least $1 billion in East Boston, cannot compete with his designs.
“If we get by the voters in Foxborough, if they like the idea, then we’ll be the most popular gambling place in New England, sure as hell,’’ Wynn guaranteed. “Because I know what they’ll do at Suffolk Downs. They’ll build for speed, not for comfort. Just like all the rest of these guys do.
“I think people know the difference between pretty and ugly.’’
Pretty buildings, by Vegas standards, are Wynn’s specialty. The son of a compulsive gambler who ran a bingo hall, Wynn is one of the most influential developers in Las Vegas history.
His upscale Mirage hotel and its exploding volcano sparked the city’s evolution into a luxury tourist destination, said Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor newsletter....
Wynn almost never gambles....
He knows that is only for suckers.
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Also see: Kraft Picks a Wynner
