Embattled casino mogul Steve Wynn gives up fight for ex-wife’s stake in firm, ending six-year court battle

Move comes after mogul stepped down as chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts amid sexual harassment allegations

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Casino mogul Steve Wynn stepped down as Wynn Resorts chairman and CEO last week. Photo: AP

Published: 11:36am, 12 Feb 2018Updated: 12:31pm, 12 Feb 2018

Scandal-hit casino supremo Steve Wynn has agreed to relinquish control of a minority stake in Wynn Resorts held by his ex-wife following sexual harassment allegations that forced him to step down as company chairman and chief executive last week.

The move by the under-fire gaming tycoon ends a long and bitter legal dispute between him and his ex-wife Elaine over her 9.4 per cent stake in the company, and came in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

Wynn, 76, has denied all the accusations against him, describing them as “preposterous”. He has been replaced as chief executive and chairman of Wynn Resorts by long-serving company executive Matthew Maddox.

Hong Kong entertainment tycoon Allan Zeman was named non-executive chairman of Wynn Macau. The Las Vegas-based company’s gaming operation in the former Portuguese enclave accounts for more than 70 per cent of its revenue.

Wynn’s Macau operation accounts for more than 70 per cent of the firm’s revenue. Photo: Reuters

In the filing, Wynn Resorts said it had been told Steve Wynn submitted a letter to counsel for the warring parties stating he no longer contested Elaine Wynn’s judicial admission that a 2010 agreement between the pair and company co-founder Kazuo Okada was invalid.

That agreement gave Mr Wynn control over the trio’s shares in an attempt to ward off potential takeover bids.