Via 60 Minutes
The man who turned up the wattage in Las Vegas is casino mogul Steve Wynn. He set off a building boom in the 1980s that turned a bunch of gambling joints into an international tourist spot.
Las Vegas became the fastest growing city in America until the recession hit it - hard. Now, the population is in decline, and the gambling industry is in desperate shape. Revenues in Wynn's Las Vegas properties plummeted 32 percent last quarter. But the economy didn't stop him from opening his most opulent casino resort yet, the Encore.
At 67, Wynn is a legend in Las Vegas - the man with the Midas touch who added glamour to the gambling industry. Even in this recession, thousands came to try their luck at his new casino, Encore, when it opened in late 2008. Encore cost nearly $2.3 billion dollars, a risky bet in a bad economy.
Asked why he'd open a hotel in this economic environment, Wynn told Rose, "Well I'll tell you right now that if I had any idea this…I wouldn't if I had a choice. But this project was started four years ago. These things have a huge lead time."
The gambling industry has been battered by the recession and taken the city of Las Vegas down with it. Some casinos stand half-built; unemployment is over 10 percent. And while Wynn has had to slash employees' pay and lower room prices, he plows ahead, doing whatever it takes to get customers to his new hotel.
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Earlier pieces on Wynn Resorts (WYNN)
- [Feb 25, 2009: Wynn Resorts Misses by a Country Mile]
- [Feb 13, 2009: Leaving Las Vegas.... Literally]
- [Dec 23, 2008: Wynn Encore Casino Struggling to Fill Rooms During Launch]
2 comments:
Question.. when you think of the faux-rich vegas going type... which casinos do you think of?
Ya know, young trendy people trying to live the lifstyle and portray that they're richer than they actually are. What's the Coach (COH) of Vegas in your mind?
At one point, I had thought it was Wynn. But, the more I think about it, the more I start to think that they are the actual luxury property and places more like the Bellagio and Venetian are for the faux rich. Hard to gauge these days.
I don't know exactly - WYNN is quite high end so I would not consider it faux rich; just people who were assumed not to be economically affected because in Greenspan engineered pullbacks they didn't have much pain. Unlike this time around.
Anything with a fake gondola ride in it, probably would serve as a hint for your question. Because if I can't get to Italy, I'll do the next best thing... as a faux rich.
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