Wynn Las Vegas President Marilyn Spiegel to retire after second stint with the company
Wynn Las Vegas President Marilyn Spiegel, who unretired three years ago to help Wynn Resorts weather the fallout from the Steve Wynn sexual harassment scandal, is retiring once again.
A company spokesman Wednesday confirmed Spiegel’s planned departure at the end of the year after the Boston Globe reported the president of the company’s Encore Boston Harbor resort, Brian Gullbrants, was headed to Las Vegas to assume her position on the Strip.
Spiegel previously served as Wynn Las Vegas president from 2010 to 2013 and came back in late 2018.
Wynn Resorts spokesman Michael Weaver said in an email to The Nevada Independent that Spiegel gave the company a three-year commitment when she returned. Company CEO Matt Maddox notified employees in Las Vegas and Boston about the changes a week ago.
Gullbrants will succeed Spiegel following her planned retirement at the end of the year. Gullbrants joined Wynn Las Vegas in 2008 and has been president of Encore Boston Harbor since October 2019. He managed the resort through the COVID-19 crisis. Gullbrants had been the property’s executive vice president of operations before becoming CEO.
“He will return to Las Vegas in August, to ensure a seamless transition through the end of the year when Ms. Spiegel retires,” Weaver said. “The company will seek the appropriate regulatory approvals for the changes.”
Spiegel was a long-time gaming executive with five different properties owned by Caesars Entertainment and its predecessor Harrah’s Entertainment. After retiring from Wynn, she served on the board of Caesars and consulted in human resource matters for emerging technology companies. She is also a board member with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
She was unavailable for comment Wednesday.
Spiegel returned to Wynn at the end of 2018 at the request of Maddox and then newly appointed board vice chairman Phil Satre, the former CEO of Harrah’s.
In January 2018, an investigation by The Wall Street Journal uncovered numerous allegations of sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct against female company employees by the Chairman and CEO Steve Wynn. Within a few weeks, Wynn – who denied all the allegations – resigned from the company and sold all his outstanding shares.
That year, Wynn Las Vegas President Maurice Wooden was one of several executives to leave the company in wake of the allegations.
More than a year after the allegations were raised, Nevada gaming regulators fined Wynn Resorts a record $20 million to settle a 10-count complaint. Three months later, Massachusetts gaming regulators fined Wynn Resorts $35 million for not disclosing sexual misconduct allegations against Steve Wynn.
Over the next 12 months, Wynn Resorts went through a makeover including a complete revamp of the company’s nine-member board of directors, four of whom are women. Satre was named chairman. The company also added several new policies, many of directed toward sexual harassment prevention. A compliance committee also was created with numerous procedures to prevent any harassment allegation from going unchecked.
The Wall Street Journal reported shortly after its initial story on Wynn that Wooden, who replaced Spiegel, was among senior executives at the company who stood accused by workers of enabling Wynn’s alleged behavior throughout the years. After the publication of The Wall Street Journal’s original article, Wooden sent a note to employees condemning the report and expressing support for Wynn.