Okada resigns from Wynn board
Resignation comes day before shareholders were expected to oust him at special meeting.
Former Wynn vice chairman Kazuo Okada has resigned from the board of directors 24 hours before the casino resort’s board was expected to oust him.
At a special meeting set for today, stakeholders were scheduled to vote on a proposal to remove Okada from the board, with preliminary results suggesting that 99.7% of the shareholders would have voted in favour of his enforced departure.
Following a long-running dispute with the land-based casino operator, Okada’s 20% stake in the company was forcibly redeemed by Wynn last year after allegations that he was “unsuitable”.
Okada was also stripped of his vice-chairmanship by the company which filed a lawsuit alleging that he violated US anti-corruption laws with a US$110,000 payment to Philippines gaming regulators.
Wynn chief executive Stephen Wynn said of Okada’s resignation: “We greatly appreciate the overwhelming support from our stockholders for this important action to protect the company’s business and the interests of stockholders. The preliminary vote count clearly illustrates that our stockholders understand that removing an unsuitable person from the board is vital to the continuing success of the company as we pursue a growth strategy to expand into new jurisdictions.”
Okada has denied the allegations but his appeal to block the shareholder meeting was rejected by a US judge. Okada said in a statement: “Since the year 2000, Steve Wynn has orchestrated a deliberate campaign to deceive me.
“Mr Wynn continues to engineer a scenario where there is no longer any reason for me to continue to serve on a board of directors that, at his direction and insistence, undermines me at every turn, seems to act on Mr Wynn’s every whim, and impedes my ability to serve as an independent voice for Wynn Resorts shareholders,” he added.