Wynn Las Vegas President Marilyn Spiegel to Retire, Company Announces Leadership Reshuffle

Posted on: June 10, 2021, 12:40h. 

Last updated on: June 10, 2021, 01:21h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Wynn Las Vegas President Marilyn Spiegel is departing the casino firm for a second time.?

Marilyn Spiegel Wynn Las Vegas casino executive
Marilyn Spiegel (center, red dress) celebrates the Chinese New Year at Wynn Resorts in 2012. The longtime gaming industry executive plans to depart Wynn Las Vegas as president at the end of 2021. (Image: Getty)

In a memo circulated to Wynn Resorts employees and obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, company CEO Matt Maddox revealed that Spiegel will retire at the end of the year. Brian Gullbrants, who is currently the president of Encore Boston Harbor in Everett, Ma., will return to Las Vegas to succeed Spiegel.

Wynn Resorts founder and longtime chairman and CEO Steve Wynn hired Spiegel away from Caesars Entertainment in 2010 to head his company’s Las Vegas operations. Spiegel oversaw all day-to-day operations of Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Las Vegas until departing in 2013.?

Maddox convinced her to return to the post in January of 2019 in the wake of the company’s fallout from Mr. Wynn’s alleged sexual misconduct. The billionaire has always maintained that he never acted inappropriately with female staffers. But he nonetheless resigned from Wynn Resorts in 2018 and divested his entire interest in the organization.

Female Casino Pioneer

Marilyn Spiegel was one of the first females to head operations of a major Las Vegas Strip casino resort. Claudine Williams was the first, who took the reign of the Holiday Casino (today Harrah’s) on the Strip in the early 1980s.?

Despite Williams’ trailblazing, the boardroom and executive offices in the US casino industry remain largely dominated by men. Spiegel became only the second woman to run a Strip casino when, in 2004, she was promoted to president of three Caesars properties — Bally’s, Paris Las Vegas, and Planet Hollywood. ?

Maddox brought Spiegel back to Wynn Resorts in an effort to repair the company’s image.?

Her deep experience in human resources and knowledge of what it takes to deliver the Wynn promise make her the ideal person to lead Wynn Las Vegas into the future,” Maddox said in 2018.

Spiegel’s leadership at Wynn Las Vegas opened doors for other female casino executives. Caesars Entertainment named Eileen Moore its regional president of its Las Vegas operations in 2013, a position that oversaw business at the Flamingo, Harrah’s, LINQ, and Cromwell.?

When Spiegel departed Wynn in 2013, she was replaced by Maurice Wooden. But in the career-ending expose on Mr. Wynn’s alleged wrongdoings, The Wall Street Journal accused Wooden of enabling his billionaire boss’ behavior, claims he denied.

Board Roles

Wynn Resorts, nor Spiegel, have yet to comment on her planned retirement. The Maddox memo said Gullbrants will arrive in Las Vegas in August and work with Spiegel through the end of the year to make for a seamless transition.

Spiegel currently serves on several boards, including LINQ3 Technologies, a payment platform focused on lottery products. She is additionally the vice chair of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Board of Directors. Her current term is set to expire in June.?