VEGAS INC and Sun archives
- Okada plans legal showdown with Wynn over share redemption, bribery charges (Feb. 20, 2012)
- Wynn exec Okada sues to see company’s books in spending dispute (Jan. 11, 2012)
- Wynn joining forces with Okada (June 25, 2002)
- More gaming news
Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada moved Thursday to gain a public relations advantage in his dispute with Wynn Resorts Ltd. CEO Steve Wynn.
With the directors of Wynn subsidiary Wynn Macau Ltd. reportedly planning to remove Okada as a board member in a meeting set for Friday, Okada sent a letter to the board informing the directors he wouldn’t attend the meeting. His public relations team then distributed the letter to the media.
“It is clear that the result of such vote is predetermined, and that my attendance at the meeting would therefore be futile. I am hereby formally notifying you that I disagree with the decision to remove me as a director, because it is based on false and misleading assertions in a report that was created only to serve as a means to discredit me and to which I have not had a reasonable opportunity to respond,” Okada said in his emailed letter. “I do not want to embarrass you, as my colleagues, by forcing you to make false and defamatory statements about me in my presence.”
Wynn Macau Ltd., a subsidiary of Wynn Resorts of Las Vegas, announced late Thursday Las Vegas time that its board of directors had removed Okada from the board "with immediate effect" as expected.
Steve Wynn was believed to have asked the Wynn Macau board to remove Okada over allegations Okada provided gifts and cash to Filipino gaming regulators. The claims were spelled out in an investigatory report made public this week.
"After due consideration of the independent report, taking into account the company’s high ethical standards, the board determined that it was obligated to remove Mr. Okada as a non-executive director given the unacceptable conduct by Mr. Okada, his employees and associates detailed in the independent report," Wynn Macau said in a statement.
Okada has threatened to take legal action against Wynn Resorts over its weekend move to redeem his $2.7 billion stake in the company at a discount — for a $1.9 billion, 10-year note paying 2 percent annual interest.
But as of Thursday afternoon, no legal action had been announced.
Any legal action by Okada would be on top of his existing Las Vegas lawsuit demanding details from Wynn about Wynn Macau’s $135 million donation pledge to the University of Macau, where Wynn has casinos; and Wynn Resorts’ weekend suit against Okada alleging breaches of fiduciary duty.