This is the first in a two-part series on how Wynn Resorts, one of the world's biggest casino operators, pursued a deal to acquire land in Macau's Cotai Strip from a pair of Chinese businessmen.
In many ways, Stephen A. Wynn is synonymous with Las Vegas. The larger-than-life casino mogul was key to remaking the Las Vegas Strip from an organized crime-controlled backwater into a modern, family-friendly entertainment destination in the 1980s, with properties that include the American casino icons like the Bellagio and Treasure Island. In the Ocean’s 11 movie and its sequels, the Vegas tycoon, Terry Benedict, is loosely based on Wynn.
But in a strange twist, the career and legacy of Steve Wynn — now 80 years old — may end up being defined by Macau, the Chinese gambling capital, and Wynn's dealings with Beijing elite while doing business on the 12-square mile island.
An excerpt from the Department of Justice's complaint in the foreign agent suit against Steve Wynn.
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On Thursday, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met with Wang Wentao, the Chinese Commerce Minister, in Washington. It marked the first cabinet-level meeting in Washington between the U.S. and China during the Biden administration, and it was a signal of the Commerce Department’s increasingly central role in the current U.S.-China relationship. Usually, the Commerce Department is far from the center of anything, but as Katrina Northrop reports, the department is uniquely suited to address the China challenge.
The lawyer and author talks about the attack on a train in the 1920s which created an international incident, the rise of the Communist Party and the conditions for foreign media in China today.
