Elaine Wynn was known as a Las Vegas philanthropist and the co-founder of Wynn Resorts.

However, her legacy extended far beyond the gaming industry.

Wynn, 82, who died on Monday, had a passion for the arts. 

Her foundation recently announced plans to develop the Las Vegas Art Museum in partnership with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Pritzker Prize-winning architect Francis Kere.

“She understood that Las Vegas was not just a destination; it was an experience — an ever-evolving tapestry woven with threads of art, culture, and the human spirit,” according to a statement from her Elaine P. Wynn & Family Foundation.

“We celebrate a life lived with purpose — a life that embraced the extraordinary potential of Las Vegas, a city she truly loved,” the foundation added. “Her legacy will echo through the vibrant streets and the stories of those she touched.”

According to a family spokesperson, Wynn “passed away peacefully surrounded by family after a brief illness.”

Wynn, along with her ex-husband Steve Wynn, played an instrumental role in shaping modern-day Las Vegas. Through Golden Nugget Corp. and Mirage Resorts, she helped design and develop the Golden Nugget, The Mirage, Treasure Island and Bellagio. 

After the company was sold in 2000 to the MGM Grand Corp., Elaine Wynn played a key role in developing Wynn Las Vegas and Encore.

Elaine Wynn owned about 9 percent of Wynn Resorts with approximately 9.5 million shares, which ranked just behind Houston billionaire investor Tilman Fertitta, who now holds 12.1 percent of the company.

In an unsigned statement, Wynn Resorts said many of Elaine Wynn’s “talents and special touches are indelibly imprinted on the company and still evident throughout our resorts.” The company said many opening day members of the Wynn Las Vegas workforce are still part of the property, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this month.

“Elaine cared deeply about the employees of our resorts,” the company said. “[They] cherish the many fond memories they have of her.”

Elaine Wynn remained on the Wynn Resorts board for a short time following Steve Wynn’s departure from the company in 2018 after a decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct was uncovered by the Wall Street Journal.

Through her foundation, she actively supported community organizations aligned with her passions — education and the betterment of Southern Nevada. She served in various education leadership roles at the local, state and national levels. In Nevada, the past five governors called upon her to lead education initiatives.

UNR President Brian Sandoval, who appointed Wynn to the State Board of Education during his time as governor, described her as “a titan of education” in a Tuesday statement. 

“It’s no exaggeration to say her reach and her impact on education for school children throughout the state and on a national level was simply remarkable,” he said in the statement. 

Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley, a long-time friend of Wynn, wrote on the social media platform X that “Elaine has been a force for compassion, the arts and philanthropy in our city for many decades. Her spirit, creativity and caring nature will live on through her foundation.”

Berkley committed to helping the foundation complete the Las Vegas Museum of Art. 

Wynn appeared at the closing ceremonies for The Mirage last July. The resort was purchased by Hard Rock Entertainment and is undergoing a three-year renovation into Hard Rock Las Vegas.

Hard Rock Chairman Jim Allen asked her to speak at the ceremony and she was visibly emotional about the property’s closing after 34 years. Before her remarks, she sat holding hands with former Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman. She hadn’t visited The Mirage in several years.

“It’s a very poignant moment for me, and I didn't realize the impact of it until I walked into the building,” Wynn told The Nevada Independent at the time. “But this is what we do in Las Vegas. We reinvest, we refresh, and we keep Las Vegas as one of the most exciting cities in the entire world.”

She said her two daughters often referred to The Mirage as “their third sibling” because of the family’s attention to the creation of the hotel-casino, which attracted worldwide attention as the Strip’s first all-new resort in 15 years.

Wynn is survived by her daughters, Kevyn and Gillian, and seven grandchildren.

Born Elaine Pascal in New York City where she was raised. Elaine graduated from George Washington University in 1964 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. She met Steve Wynn on a blind date when he running his father’s East Coast bingo parlors.

Four years after they were married, they moved to Las Vegas and Steve Wynn bought a small ownership stake in Frontier Hotel on the Strip and sold it before purchasing the Golden Nugget on Fremont Street.

The Wynns divorced in 1986 but married again in 1991. They divorced again in 2010.

The family drew international attention when, in July 1993, Kevyn Wynn was abducted at gunpoint from her home in Spanish Trail and Steve Wynn paid a $1.45 million ransom in cash he got from The Mirage casino cage. He did not report the kidnapping, nor tell Elaine Wynn until after paying the ransom.

Education legacy

Wynn was known as a champion for programs and services for children who live in poverty and children at risk of dropping out of school. In 1995, Wynn founded After-School All-Stars Las Vegas, with now-Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV), who served as the after-school program’s founding director. 

Wynn was also the founding chairman of Communities in Schools (CIS) of Nevada, a local affiliate of the nation’s largest dropout prevention organization. Lee was a past president of CIS of Nevada. In addition, Wynn served as a member and chairman of the organization’s national board.

“Las Vegas lost one of its true caretakers today,” Lee said in a statement. “Many people may never know just how much she did to improve their lives, as she was instrumental in delivering so much to our state and community … Her trailblazing philanthropy touched the lives of millions.”

Tami Hance-Lehr, CIS of Nevada CEO and state director, described Wynn as the “heart and soul” of the state affiliate. 

“Her belief that every child deserves the opportunity to succeed, no matter their background or circumstance, shaped our mission and continues to guide our work today,” Hance-Lehr said in a statement. 

Wynn served on the State Board of Education from 2012 to 2020. She served twice in the president role and oversaw the hiring of three state superintendents of public instruction: Dale Erquiaga, Steve Canavero and Jhone Ebert, who recently left the position to become the superintendent of the Clark County School District (CCSD). 

Erquiaga also worked closely with Wynn while he served as the president of Communities in Schools while she was still the chair. He said everything she did boiled down to what she could do each day to save someone’s life. 

“Each child mattered to her,” he said during a Tuesday phone interview. 

During her tenure, the board focused on efforts around equity, educational accountability, technological advances, college and career readiness and growing Nevada’s pipeline of diverse and highly effective educators, including instructional support personnel, 

In her final year on the board, Wynn and her foundation were part of a statewide effort by public and private organizations, Connecting Kids, that launched in July 2020 and worked to ensure that Nevada K-12 students had access to a computer and the internet after the pandemic forced schools to shift to virtual learning. 

Wynn even hopped on a Facebook live event with the popular CCSD Parents Facebook group to spread the word and recruit parents to join in on the effort. 

By January 2021, the coalition confirmed that nearly half a million students in the state’s 17 counties had the online learning resources they needed.

Rebecca Dirks Garcia, an administrator of the Facebook group, said Wynn set a high philanthropic standard for the business community and how it could get involved in addressing issues in a practical, “boot on the ground” method. 

“I think that is hopefully a legacy for other business leaders … can really take an example from to actively find things in our community that need support and to find ways to address them in real ways rather than simply saying we need x, but actually mobilizing to do something,” Dirks Garcia said. 

Wynn also helped raise millions of dollars for UNLV during her service on the board of directors of the UNLV Foundation, the private fundraising arm for the university, from 1983 to 2008, and served as its chair from 1985 to 1991.

In 1989, she funded the Lee Pascal Rose Garden, a focal point of the university’s campus, in honor of her mother, Lee Pascal. The garden is populated with "Show Biz" roses, symbolizing the Wynn family's prominence in the gaming and entertainment world.

Her legacy in education also includes a CCSD elementary school, which was named after her in 1991 and is located less than 4 miles east from Wynn Resort. 

“(Wynn) established a culture of caring for the children of Clark County that will endure for generations to come,” Ebert said in a statement. 

A reliable donor

Wynn was an active political donor, giving large sums to Democrats and Democratic-aligned causes — a stark contrast from her former husband, a GOP megadonor and friend of President Donald Trump.

Wynn supported President Joe Biden in his successful 2020 bid for office — giving $100,000 to his campaign — and was appointed by President Barack Obama to a six-year term on the board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Over the years, she donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the presidential campaigns of Kamala Harris, Biden, Obama and other Democrats.

Wynn was a patron of both parties during the 2000s, but became a reliable donor to Democratic politicians and the state party in Nevada by the 2010s. In the last campaign cycle in Nevada, Wynn donated $250,000 to Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, the political action committee behind the passage of Question 6, which would enshrine the right to an abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy in the state Constitution. 

She also donated nearly $17,000 to Sen. Jacky Rosen’s (D-NV) re-election campaign and hundreds of thousands to Democratic congressional campaigns and state parties during the 2024 cycle. 

Steve Wynn, by contrast, served as finance chair for the Republican National Committee during Trump’s first term and donated over $1 million to Trump in the 2024 cycle.

Elaine Wynn’s involvement also extended to state politics. 

Erquiaga said Wynn was a huge help to him and Sandoval as they worked to pass education initiatives and tax reforms, including new business taxes and the controversial Commerce Tax through the Legislature in 2015. 

“I recall she traveled around the state with me talking to business groups to say, ‘You can't have all the reforms without the taxes,’” he said. “It was a package to her as it was to us.” 

Tributes to Wynn poured in from Nevada politicians on both sides of the aisle upon news of her death — both of Nevada’s Democratic senators praised her philanthropy and role in shaping Las Vegas, while Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo called her a “visionary Las Vegas businesswoman” and “unparalleled philanthropist.”

“Elaine Wynn was an inspirational, pioneering woman,” Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) said in a statement. “Through her philanthropic work and public service, she was an unflinching, passionate advocate for Nevadans, especially for our public school students. Her impact was felt in the community for decades, and it will continue to be felt for many years to come.”

Reporter Gabby Birenbaum contributed.

Updated at 2:00 p.m. on 4/15/25 with additional information

Updated at 7:59 a.m. on 4/15/2025 with Wynn's stock ownership.