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Elaine Wynn

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Elaine Wynn
Wynn in 2019
Born
Elaine Farrell Pascal

(1942-04-28)April 28, 1942
New York City, U.S.
DiedApril 14, 2025(2025-04-14) (aged 82)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
EducationGeorge Washington University (BA)
OccupationBusinesswoman
Board member ofCommunities in Schools (national and local chapter), UNLV Foundation, Consortium for Policy Research in Education, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2015)
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1963; div. 1986)​
​
​
(m. 1991; div. 2010)​
Children2
RelativesAndrew Pascal (nephew)

Elaine Farrell Wynn (née Pascal; April 28, 1942 – April 14, 2025) was an American billionaire businesswoman, art collector, philanthropist and education reformer. She co-founded Mirage Resorts and Wynn Resorts with her former husband, Steve Wynn.

Wynn served on the Nevada State Board of Education from 2012 until 2020 and was the board's president in 2015 and 2017. She was on the national board of Communities in Schools from 1999 until her death in 2025.

Early life and education

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Wynn was born to a middle-class Jewish family on April 28, 1942, in New York City.[1] Her father was a salesman for resort hotel packages and her mother was a homemaker. She spent part of her early life in Miami Beach, Florida.[2]

She attended George Washington University and majored in political science. While in college, she went on a blind date with Steve Wynn, who had just graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. At the end of her junior year, the couple got married. She graduated from George Washington University with a bachelor of arts degree in 1964.[2]

Business career

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Wynn co-founded the Mirage Resorts with her former husband in 1976.[3] They also co-founded Wynn Resorts in 2000.[3] She served on its board of directors.[4] She played a pivotal role in the resurgence and expansion of the Las Vegas Strip with her former husband. In 2015, she nominated herself to the board, but she was not confirmed.[5][6]

Wynn was the company's largest shareholder, with a 9% stake valued in May 2018 at nearly $2 billion.[7] In 2018, after revelations of Steve Wynn's reported sexual harassment of multiple Wynn employees, and payments to cover up those allegations that were kept secret from the board of directors, he sold his 12% share of the company and agreed to return voting rights to Elaine Wynn (which she had signed away during their 2010 divorce agreement).[8][7]

In June 2018, Wynn successfully led a shareholder proxy campaign to remove John Hagenbuch from the board, due to his conflict of interest created by ties to the company's former CEO.[7]

At the time of her death in April 2025, Wynn still owned nearly 9% of stock at Wynn Resorts. However, as a result of recent purchases, most of the stock at Wynn Resorts was now owned by Houston-based investor Tilman Fertitta.[9]

Community involvement

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Education

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She served on the board of trustees of the Elaine P. Wynn & Family Foundation, which focuses on education and community development initiatives. From 1983 to 2008, she was involved with the UNLV Foundation, serving as its chair from 1985 to 1991, which conducts fundraising for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She also was on the executive board of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education.[3]

Wynn co-founded the Nevada affiliate of Communities In Schools (CIS) in 1993 to provide integrated student support services to at-risk youth. She joined the national board in 1999 and served as chair from 2007 to 2024.[3]

Wynn and First Lady of West Virginia Cathy Justice at a Communities In Schools reception in 2019

In 2011, she co-chaired the state government initiative, the Nevada Blue Ribbon Education Reform Task Force, which produced a report titled Nevada’s Promise. The report recommended various improvements to the state’s public education system, among them:[10]

  • Establish a "Teachers and Leaders Council" to develop a fair and transparent evaluation system based on student growth and professional practice.
  • Utilize real-time data to inform instruction and policy decisions to tailor instruction to meet students’ needs.
  • Integrate support services within schools to address issues such as health, nutrition, and family support, enabling educators to focus on teaching.
  • Create an accountability system that measures student progress and school performance. It stressed the need for transparent reporting.
  • Revise the funding formula to more equitably distribute funds across schools and districts.

Wynn was appointed to the Nevada State Board of Education, the body made up of elected and appointed positions and oversees public education throughout the state, in 2012 by Governor Brian Sandoval. During her tenure on the board, oversaw and helped approve the hiring three superintendents of the Clark County School District.

The arts

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Wynn was appointed to the board of trustees of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by President Barack Obama in 2011.[3][11]

She served as the co-chair of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.[12]

In 2024, Wynn and the mayor of Las Vegas, Carolyn Goodman, announced plans for the Las Vegas Museum of Art, which has a projected opening date of 2028. The planned museum will operate as a partnership with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which will allow it to share its collections and programming; the partnership was to be co-chaired by Wynn.[12][13]

Personal life and death

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Wynn married businessman Steve Wynn in 1963.[14] They divorced in 1986, remarried in 1991 and divorced again in 2010.[15][16] Wynn resided in the couple's mansion inside Southern Highlands Golf Club.[17]

They had two daughters, Kevyn and Gillian. Kevyn was kidnapped in 1993 and Wynn paid $1.45 million in ransom for her safe return.[18] The kidnappers were apprehended when one attempted to buy a Ferrari in Newport Beach, California, with cash. Kevyn was found unharmed several hours later.[19]

Wynn was an avid art collector. In 2013, she acquired Francis Bacon's Three Studies of Lucian Freud for $142.4 million and loaned it to the Portland Art Museum.[20]

Wynn died at home in Los Angeles from heart failure on April 14, 2025, at age 82.[2][9][21]

References

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  1. ^ Horyn, Cathy (May 14, 2006). "The Other Casino Wynn, in a Hard City for Women". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Crowley, Matthew; Hopkins, A.D. (April 15, 2025). "Elaine Wynn dies, after decades as gaming leader, philanthropist". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on April 15, 2025. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Who We are—Elaine Wynn". Communities in Schools. Archived from the original on December 25, 2010.
  4. ^ Goldman, Andrew (May 4, 2012). "How Elaine Wynn Survived 45 Years in Sin City". The New York Times (Interview). Archived from the original on June 17, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
  5. ^ Friess, Steve (March 24, 2015). "Wynn Resorts Board Raises Objections to a Co-Founder's Re-election". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  6. ^ Solomon, Steven Davidoff (April 21, 2015). "The Boardroom Strikes Back". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 16, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c Stewart, James B. (May 10, 2018). "With Steve Wynn Gone, 'Queen of Las Vegas' Does Boardroom Battle". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  8. ^ Nocera, Joe (May 18, 2018). "Elaine Wynn, Shareholder Activist". Bloomberg News. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Stutz, Howard (April 15, 2025). "Elaine Wynn, Las Vegas philanthropist and Wynn Resorts founder, has died at 82". The Nevada Independent. Archived from the original on April 15, 2025. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  10. ^ Nevada Blue Ribbon Education Reform Task Force (2011). "Nevada's Promise" (PDF). Nevada Legislature. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 16, 2025.
  11. ^ "Kennedy Center Administration: Our People: The Board of Trustees". The Kennedy Center. Archived from the original on February 1, 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  12. ^ a b Pogrebin, Robin (September 4, 2024). "Las Vegas Places a Bet on a New Art Museum, With Help From L.A.". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 16, 2025.
  13. ^ Katsilometes, John (September 4, 2024). "Elaine Wynn: Las Vegas museum 'my personal legacy'". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved April 18, 2025.
  14. ^ Moore, Booth (December 28, 2008). "For Las Vegas' Elaine Wynn, A Test of her Taste". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  15. ^ Friess, Steve (April 5, 2010). "The loving dissolution of Mr. and Mrs. Wynn". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on June 20, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
  16. ^ Dolan, Kerry A. (June 19, 2012). "After Futile Efforts To Settle Out Of Court, Billionaire Elaine Wynn Sues So She Can Sell Her Wynn Resorts Shares". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 20, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  17. ^ "Is Steve and Elaine Wynn's Relationship Now Strictly Business?". HotelChatter. January 28, 2009. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  18. ^ Good, Joshua B. (July 28, 1993). "Vegas Mogul Pays Ransom for Daughter". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 15, 2020.
  19. ^ La Ganga, Maria L.; Core, Richard (August 3, 1993). "Kidnap Suspect Arrested as He Buys Ferrari at O.C. Dealer". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 4, 2024.
  20. ^ Peterson-Withorn, Chase (November 14, 2016). "Elaine Wynn, Buyer Of $142 Million Painting, On Her Love Of Art". Forbes. Archived from the original on November 14, 2016.
  21. ^ Green, Penelope (April 17, 2025). "Elaine Wynn, Who Built Wynn Resorts Empire in Las Vegas, Dies at 82". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 18, 2025. Retrieved April 18, 2025.
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