Steve Wynn moved to Las Vegas in 1967 and invested in the Frontier Hotel. Less than a year later, the Frontier was sold to billionaire Howard Hughes. Wynn turned his attention to the Golden Nugget. The Golden Nugget had one of the most desirable locations on Fremont Street. In 1972 Wynn and a group of investors bought enough stock to get elected to the board of directors. He took control by 1973. He used Golden Nugget profits to buy an aging hotel in Atlantic City. Wynn tore it down, and by 1980 had built another Golden Nugget with 506 rooms. Wynn then sold the Atlantic City property for $440 million, plowing part of the money into building The Mirage. The Mirage opened in November 1989, with a published price of $630 million. Construction of Treasure Island followed soon after. Bellagio was Steve Wynn’s next move. The 1998 opening of the 3,000-room Bellagio and its $1.6 billion price made it the most expensive resort built at the time. In 2000, Wynn sold his company, Mirage Resorts, to MGM Grand Inc. However Steve Wynn wasn’t leaving Las Vegas. Wynn Las Vegas, with a $2.7 billion construction price tag, opened in April 2005. The Wynn and sister property Encore built in 2008 have more than 4,700 rooms. Steve Wynn’s next move was a major investment in Macau. Wynn Macau was completed in 2006, followed by Wynn Palace, which opened in 2016. Wynn’s Proposed Vegas Expansion:
Paradise Park, a 47-story, 1,500-room hotel, on the site of the Wynn Golf Course. Construction scheduled to start early 2018. In January 2018 Wynn announced plans to build Wynn West, a 2,000-3,000-room property on the 38-acre Alon site that was purchased on Dec. 13 for $336 million. Wynn said he wants to push ahead with development on his undeveloped land because he expects Las Vegas will boom over the next 20 years as tax breaks stimulate an “economic renaissance.”
