Elaine Wynn Seeks New Board Members At Wynn Resorts

(RTTNews) - Wynn Resorts Ltd.'s (WYNN) largest shareholder, Elaine Wynn, urged the company move swiftly to restructure its board and improve its corporate governance as regulators continue to investigate the company's handling of sexual-misconduct allegations against her ex-husband, former Chief Executive Steve Wynn.

Ms. Wynn said in a letter to the board Tuesday that she was focused both on maximizing the company's value and on "fully restoring its reputation and in transforming it into a corporate-governance leader," according to an SEC filing.

Ms. Wynn asked that shareholders be allowed to nominate new board candidates ahead of a coming company meeting, even though the deadline has expired, the filing said. She said in the letter that this would be possible if the board voted to start holding director elections annually, or to increase its size.

Ms. Wynn, who previously served on the board and has a 9% stake in the company, said she didn't plan to nominate herself or anyone who couldn't be considered independent of herself, Wynn Resorts or Mr. Wynn.

Ms. Wynn added that she believes the reconstituted board should be in place before the company makes any material decisions about transactions, such as a possible sale of its Boston-area casino project. Ms. Wynn requested the board reply by April 24.

Mr. Wynn resigned from his roles as the company's chairman and CEO in February and sold off his entire 12% stake for $2.1 billion last month. Monday he settled all outstanding claims in a long-running litigation involving the company and Ms. Wynn, to whom he agreed to pay $25 million, according to Tuesday's filing.