Essay on Steve Wynn

Polished, aggressive, unbeatable, ridiculous, flashy, brilliant, humorous, pioneer; these are some of the words that have often been used to describe real estate developer and hotel entrepreneur Steve Wynn. He took a run down, raw Las Vegas and helped turned it into the thriving mecca we know today. He not only helped to shape the Las Vegas economy but was an active player on the political scene. Steve Wynn built a multi-billion dollar empire which started from an investment in just one Las Vegas casino, the Golden Nugget. From that "modest" investment he grew into the most successful businessman in the world. Steve Wynn reshaped the hospitality industry in Las Vegas to incorporate elegance, top notch customer service, first rate gaming, and high class entertainment and he has been credited with transforming Las Vegas into a worldwide tourist destination (Raleigh). It is because of these great successes that he is known as a pioneer in the hospitality industry.

Steve Wynn was born in 1942 in New Haven, Connecticut (Burbank). His family ran bingo parlors in Boston and in 1952 they decided to take their parlors to Las Vegas and to the Silver Slipper casino (Burbank). This turned out to be a mistake that only lasted six weeks. After returning to the East Coast Steve Wynn enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English Literature (Burbank). Wynn also took classes at Wharton Business School in order to help run his father's bingo business after his death (Hopkins). Wynn has been quoted as saying that "if you wanted to make money in a casino, the answer was to own one," and so he decided to do just that (Burbank). In 1967 Wynn moved his family to Las Vegas and became part owner of the Frontier Hotel and operated his own wine and liquor importing company (Raleigh). His stake at the Frontier did not last long. He was ousted after billionaire Howard Hughes took over and re-staffed the entire casino which left Wynn with virtually nothing (Hopkins). In 1971 Wynn discovered a narrow lot of land located on Las Vegas Boulevard next to the Caesars Palace which was owned by Howard Hughes (Hughes had refused to sell this parcel of land to Caesars Palace). Wynn then decided to take a gamble of his own. He purchased another lot of land that Howard Hughes wanted and decided to make a trade; One lot of land for the other (Hopkins). This plan worked. Wynn then turned around and sold that lot to Caesars Palace which netted him more than $1 million (Hopkins). With these proceeds he made the purchase that would catapult him to the top of the industry. He became owner of the Golden Nugget which was failing under management set on coasting rather than accelerating the business (Hopkins). In the first year he increased his profits from $1.1 million to $4.2 million (Hopkins). Wynn renovated the Golden Nugget and started offering amenities that the top resorts offered. He added almost 600 rooms and the Golden Nugget started earning more than $12 million a year (Hopkins). Wynn was seeing how desperate Las Vegas was for a change. After building another Golden Nugget in Atlantic City, Wynn dreamed of more. In 1989 Wynn opened the Mirage hotel on the Las Vegas strip which was hailed as a "megaresort" by industry professionals (Burbank). The Mirage was nothing that Las Vegas had ever seen before. It featured a large man-made volcano, waterfalls and lush indoor plantings (Hopkins). The mirage "sparked a new era of casino gambling and entertainment that drew national attention to Las Vegas." (Burbank). Wynn's actions raised the bar of hospitality in Las Vegas. He raised the standards in décor, hotel suites, restaurants, entertainment and other attractions (Burbank). He made the other hotels work for their business. Wynn didn't stop at the Mirage. In 1993 he opened the 32-story Treasure Island which featured a live pirate ship battle every 15 minutes which included climbing and acrobatics (Burbank). That same year Wynn's daughter Kevyn was kidnapped and after paying the $1.45 million ransom was returned unharmed (the suspects were later arrested) (Burbank). Steve Wynn was living the Vegas dream and shooting for the stars. In 1998 he raised the bar even more in excellence and luxury by opening the Bellagio hotel (Burbank). The Bellagio offered a fine art gallery, luxury accommodations and water fountains in front of the hotel which are a show of their own. "He wants to live the showtown dream. That's why he builds better each time, sourcing the most expensive marble and fabrics from around the world. Why he wants the latest chefs and the hottest shows. Why he collects art." (Ratner) With his success also came some failures. In 1999 Wynn suffered financial troubles and sold the Mirage to MGM Grand owner Kirk Kerkorian for $6.7 billion (Burbank). This buyout was one of the largest in history. Wynn ended up with about $500 million and purchased the Desert Inn on the Las Vegas strip (Burbank). He imploded the hotel (which he televised) and opened the 2,716 room Wynn Las Vegas at a cost of $2.7 billion in 2005 (Burbank). He also opened the $2.3 billion Encore hotel in 2008 during the large economic recession in recent history. As of 2009, Steve Wynn is the 468th richest man in the world with a net worth of over $1.5 billion (Burbank). He reshaped the atmosphere of Las Vegas and turned it from a hard gambling town to a world class tourist destination at the heart of the entertainment industry.

Steve Wynn has also been a major player on the political front. He is a very outspoken businessman and has challenged the political world. In 1998 reporter Jane Ann Morrison revealed that Wynn was the second most active gaming executive in donating to politicians (Hopkins). Although registered as a Democrat, Wynn's contributions do not seem to favor the Republicans or Democrats. Michael Green made this comment about Wynn "Wynn is proactive, and that is his political importance. Also, he has taken an interest in national politics. Howard Hughes quietly gave money to presidential candidates, but Wynn plays golf with them." (Hopkins) Jon Ralston points out that "He recognized a few years back it's not enough to do polling, as some had done before, and let candidates know where they stand. He decided to have a whole structure that allows him to participate in the care and feeding of candidates. He will provide mailing lists. He will let candidates know where they are weak and strong in the geographic area they are running in. In other words, he provides the same services a political party does." (Hopkins) Wynn's political agendas have brought about many positive changes for the Las Vegas communities. Wynn has improved state colleges, county schools