Wynn Resorts is considering moving its global headquarters from Las Vegas to Macau, said its Chairman & CEO, Steve Wynn, in an interview Wednesday with CNBC.
“It is not improbable or unrealistic considering so much of our revenue is from China that it makes sense that I spend most of my time here,” said Wynn. “I'm seriously considering that and I am weighing the implications of how I engineer that.”
He disagreed with critics who have warned that Macau’s gambling market may be reaching saturation point.
“If there is imagination and good taste in Macau, the sky is the limit. It will become the vacation spot of choice for the entire Pacific Rim. It could happen here and I think it will,” said Wynn.
“What matters is not how many places get built but how good are they. The more fanciful, the more appropriate they are, they grow the market… I don't think bigger is better. I think better is better.”
His remarks came as Wynn Resort's Asia unit, Wynn Macau, officially opened its $600-million Encore casino-hotel in Macau, in what will be the only major new casino opening in the market this year. The property is Wynn Macau's second in the market, the only place in China where casino gambling is legal.
Wynn Resorts makes more than half of its operating cash flow from its Macau unit, which raised nearly $1.9 billion in a Hong Kong IPO last year, similar to Las Vegas Sands and its Sands China unit, both led by Wynn's arch-rival Sheldon Adelson.
Wynn, 68, whose former company Mirage Resorts was snapped up in a hostile takeover by billionaire Kirk Kerkorian's MGM Grand to form MGM Mirage in 2000, is known for building grand "destination resorts" in Las Vegas such as Bellagio and the Mirage.
- Reuters contributed to this report.
