Wynn Fight Continues, But Kazuo Okada Resigns From The Board

A news release on Business Wire was issued by Kazuo Okada today saying that he remains determined to fight Steve Wynn’s involuntary redemption of his nearly 20% stake in Wynn Resorts at what is called a 30% discount. If this sort of fight was taking place anywhere else it might be covered significantly more in the media. With Okada’s resignation from the board of directors this is sure to be one of the more strange fights among corporate insiders that we have seen.

Mr. Okada said at one point in his release,

“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. I have also heard that there have been incredible cover ups by Mr. Wynn where he, in conspiracy with former employees, manipulated the media and made requests for cooperation in the Philippines.”

Here is the full press release.

Wynn Resorts is down less than 1% today at $115.67 against a 52-week range of $90.11 to $138.28 and its market cap is more than $11.5 billion. A stake of 20% here is substantial. Sometimes news is so strange that it almost sounds made up, but this is the sort of news that is too strange to make up.