Elaine Wynn, the third-largest stockholder of Wynn Resorts Ltd and ex-wife of the company’s chairman Steve Wynn, is asking shareholders of the company to re-elect her to the board.
Elaine Wynn filed a preliminary proxy statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday detailing her plan to solicit votes for the annual meeting on April 24.
Wynn Resorts said in a regulatory filing last week it wouldn’t put forth her name for another three-year term. The board cited her lack of independence under Nasdaq-listing standards and a lawsuit she filed against Mr Wynn. Her term expires on April 24.
Elaine Wynn has been embroiled in litigation with her ex-husband over her 9.4-percent stake in the Las Vegas-based casino company. In 2012, she filed a lawsuit seeking to free her of the obligation to vote her stock with Mr Wynn.
In Thursday’s filing, Elaine Wynn responded saying the Wynn Resorts board has presented “a confusing and misleading” set of reasons for excluding her from the boardroom.
“The board, without merit and for unclear reasons of its own, has refused to offer me a renomination,” said Elaine Wynn. “Instead, the board chose to exclude an experienced, productive and independent voice in the boardroom and its only female member,” she added.
Elaine Wynn is a co-founder of Wynn Resorts, the parent company of casino operator Wynn Macau Ltd, and a board member since its inception in 2002.
“My four decades of experience in the gaming and hospitality business, coupled with my unique knowledge of the company, have been invaluable to the board and the company’s stockholders, and equally important in the continued development of the Wynn brand,” she said in the filing.
In response to Elaine Wynn’s solicitation for re-election, Wynn Resorts reiterated that the board decision followed the recommendations from the company’s Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.
“This recommendation followed an extensive process, which included multiple meetings and the participation of Ms Wynn,” the firm said in a statement.
“Our board is committed to maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance in the industry and has stated its intention to search for one or two new independent director candidates, and upon identifying a suitable director candidate expects to increase the board size accordingly,” it added.
(Updated at 11.55am)
