OUTSIDERS TAPPED IN WYNN PROBE
Canadian company to probe resorts’ finances
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is hiring an outside agency to examine Wynn Resorts’ finances as part of its investigation into the controversial company, which a gambling expert said was a smart move to ensure the company was still able to build its $2.4 billion casino in Everett.
HLT Advisory, a Canadian firm that has reviewed casino applicants’ financial information for the MGC in the past, will examine how the ongoing sexual harassment scandal involving Steve Wynn is affecting the financial stability of the company he founded, a commission spokeswoman said. The firm’s contract is not to exceed $30,000 without further approval from the commission, and Wynn Resorts will ultimately get the bill.
Wynn has been accused of raping a former employee and paying a former manicurist $7.5 million in a sexual harassment settlement, The Wall Street Journal reported in January, and recently the newspaper reported other Wynn employees enabled his actions. The allegations led to a firestorm of criticism for Wynn, who resigned as CEO and is divesting from the company that bears his name so it can meet the gaming commission’s “suitability” requirement.
Public pressure has led to Wynn officials considering a “rebranding” of the casino, but they are still pushing ahead with the $2.4 billion project on the Mystic River, where a construction worker died after being injured on the job Tuesday. But the commission is making sure they still have the funds to complete construction, a gambling expert said.
“It makes sense. What they’re worried about is all this stuff about Steve Wynn and how it will affect the stock price . ... It’s the #MeToo environment that’s a lot more important in Massachusetts,” said Richard McGowan, an associate professor of economics at Boston College. “It seems like the Gaming Commission is covering their bases.”
A Wynn spokesman did not reply to a request for comment about the company’s finances.
McGowan said that Wynn Resorts had so far not seen major financial fallout from the scandal, but with other major casino operators like MGM and Sands either busy with other projects or uninterested in Massachusetts, Wynn was likely the only player that could complete the project.
The commission “better hope Wynn has the financial resources to finish this off, otherwise it just sits there doing nothing,” he said.