Billionaire casino mogul Steve Wynn to make USD 147 million off dividend payout

Las Vegas (AP) – Billionaire casino mogul Steve Wynn will make about USD 147 million (Euro114.58 million) after his namesake company, Wynn Resorts Ltd., announced a USD 6 per share dividend.

Wynn Resorts Ltd., which operates the Wynn Las Vegas hotel-casino on the Strip and the recently opened Wynn Macau in the Chinese gambling enclave, said Monday the cash dividend will be paid Dec. 4 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 23.

The company had more than USD 1.4 billion (Euro1.09 billion) in cash on the books as of Sept. 30, bolstered by a deal completed weeks earlier to sell USD 900 million (Euro701.48 million) in casino development rights in Macau to Australian company Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd.

Steve Wynn holds about 24.5 million shares, as does his close partner, Japanese pachinko machine operator Kazuo Okada. Both lots amount to about 48.4 percent of the company’s outstanding shares.

After the announcement, Wynn shares rose USD 6.48, or 7.9 percent, to close at a 52-week high of USD 88.67 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Coincidentally, last month Wynn gave up the chance for USD 139 million (Euro108.34 million) in income after he accidentally put his elbow through the canvas of his prized Picasso painting, „Le Reve.“ He had clinched a record-making deal to sell the 1932 work to art collector Steven Cohen.

Since the accident, Wynn said he will pay USD 85,000 (Euro66,250) to have the painting repaired and now intends to keep it.