According to a filing by Wynn Resorts with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week, three of the company’s top corporate executives agreed to take a 20% salary reduction. The salary reduction will be effective for three months starting January 1, 2021.
Top Corporate Executives Agree on 20% Salary Reduction for 3 Months
Three of the top corporate executives at Wynn Resorts will take a 20% salary reduction for the first three months of the year. As the company tries to shake off the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the news came after a filing of Wynn with the Securities and Exchange Commission dated Tuesday, January 5.
The filing impacts Chief Executive Officer, Matthew O. Maddox, the President and Chief Financial Officer, Craig S. Billings, as well as the Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Ellen F. Whittemore.
According to the filing with the Commission, the pay reductions of 20% are applicable from January 1 through April 1, 2021. After April 1, the annual base salaries of those employees will be restored to 100%.
Due to the introduced pay cuts, the annual base salary for Mr. Maddox will be reduced to $1,900,000. On the other hand, the amendments will reduce Mr. Billings’ base salary to $1,140,000 and Ms. Whittemore’s will be reduced to $665,000.
Mr. Maddox Keeps Leading by Example
Undoubtedly the pandemic brought difficulties for Wynn Resorts and many other operators a part of the hotel and casino industry. In fact, at the start of the pandemic last March, in an effort to navigate through the casino closures brought by the spread of the virus, Wynn’s Board of Directors and top executives agreed to forego between 33% and 100% of their unpaid salaries for the year in exchange to company stock. Helping the company allocate funds for employee payroll and other expenses, Mr. Maddox exchanged the remainder of his salary in full.
Then, in August, Wynn went the extra mile by offering key company employees ownership in the company. Once again, Mr. Maddox led by example and gave up his shares he got in exchange for his salary. Consequently, he added those shares to the share grant.
Early in November, Wynn Resorts released its Q3 2020 report, outlining net loss of $758.1 million for the quarter representing a 53.3% decline year-on-year. The company’s two resorts in Macau and their performance decrease due to the ongoing pandemic is one of the reasons that contributed toward the 53.3% drop.
Observing the results, the company decided to focus on its properties in Las Vegas and Boston, which brought a cash flow of $20.3 million and $22,3 million, respectively. Despite the pandemic and reduced capacities, for the third quarter until September 30, 2020, Wynn’s hotels in Las Vegas contributed by raising half of the total revenue in Q3 2020.