WYNN RESORTS added three women to its board of directors on Wednesday as the company tries to convince regulators that it is changing course following Steve Wynn’s departure in February amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is trying to determine whether Wynn Resorts should retain its casino license in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct against Wynn and reports that the board and top company officials did little to rein in his behavior. Wynn Resorts is in the midst of building a $2.4 billion casino in Everett.
Steve Wynn has severed ties with the company and now the board is undergoing a makeover. Two long-time Wynn Resorts directors, Ray Irani and Alvin Shoemaker, stepped down in the wake of the scandal and the three new directors add gender and age diversity to a board that consisted of seven men and one woman with an average age of 68.
The three new directors, all women in their late fifties, are Dee Dee Myers, an executive vice president at Warner Bros. Entertainment and a former press secretary to Bill Clinton during his first term as president; Betsy Atkins, a corporate governance advocate and former CEO of several firms; and Wendy Webb, the CEO of Kestrel Advisors and a former senior executive at the Walt Disney Company.
A Wynn official noted that Atkins is a graduate of UMass Amherst and Webb is a graduate of Smith College and Harvard Business School.
Matt Maddox, the CEO of Wynn Resorts, said in a statement that the board appointments signify “meaningful change” at the company. “These appointments signify a turning point for us, and I look forward to working with each of our new directors as we usher in a new era at Wynn.”
D. Boone Wayson, who took over as chairman of the Wynn Resorts board in February, said more new directors will be added in the coming months.