Steve Wynn and Las Vegas

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When a tourist visits Las Vegas, there is a very good chance that Steve Wynn had a hand in establishing the property they are visiting. Developer of multiple properties on the Las Vegas Strip, Steve Wynn redefined the culture of Las Vegas and subsequently his ideas became the rule rather than the exception. His innovation and ironic eye for design has lead to vast recognition including multiple five-star and five-diamond awards. Modern Las Vegas’ world renowned properties would not exist if Wynn was not the driving force behind the shift towards redefining luxury. Steve Wynn’s first venture into running a gambling establishment began in upstate New York at his father’s bingo hall (LVRJ). When his father passed, Wynn took his share of the bingo business and with his new wife in hand, set his sights on Las Vegas. His first Las Vegas investment occurred in 1967 when he bought into the now-defunct Frontier Hotel. During this time, Las Vegas was still heavily connected to the mob and other illicit activities were still present in the casino’s count rooms. Wynn would absolve himself from the corruption at the Frontier without a profit and move on to legitimate business ventures. Wynn’s networking skills and clever attention to detail allowed him to become profitable in real estate. When he learned there was a parcel of land adjacent to Caesars Palace and he threatened to build “the world’s narrowest hotel” on that property. Caesars had no choice but to acquire that property in a transaction that would net Wynn a share of a million dollar profit. Wynn would parlay his profits into the Golden Nugget. The Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas has held a prime location on Fremont Street. In the early 70s, Wynn was one of the youngest mem... ... middle of paper ... ...as been focused on always building the next greatest resort. Although the Bellagio was called his finest work when it was created, he was able to outdo himself by creating the Wynn-Encore complex. Wynn’s expansion into Asia shows that he feels that Clark County and Southern Nevada may be saturated with his creative design. By venturing towards the East, Wynn is able to tap into a market that is newly opened to Western gambling corporations. But as for Las Vegas, many of the iconic properties of the modern era have been influenced by Steve Wynn’s golden touch. Works Cited http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/steve-wynn http://www.pbs.org/wttw/ceoexchange/episodes/ceo_swynn.html http://inlandarchitectmag.com/pdf/Bellagio.pdf http://gaming.unlv.edu/abstract/fin_wynn.html http://gaming.unlv.edu/hof/2006_wynn.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfMJxMqkKvE

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