CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Wynn Resorts
CEO and EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Wynn Macau
POWER SCORE: 1,026
POSITION LAST YEAR: NIL
CLAIMS TO FAME
- Just the third ever CEO of Wynn Resorts
- Held executive roles at IGT and Aristocrat
THE FEBRUARY DEPARTURE of Matt Maddox after four years as Wynn Resorts CEO opened the door for Craig Billings to complete a whirlwind rise to the top of the company he had joined at Maddox’s request some five years earlier.
Billings, just the third CEO in Wynn’s history after Maddox and company founder Steve Wynn, brings serious financial chops to the role, having previously held executive and board positions with Aristocrat Leisure Limited, NYX Gaming Group, IGT and Goldman Sachs.
He first crossed paths with Wynn Chairman Phil Satre more than a decade ago during a brief two-year stint as Chief of Staff and Head of Corporate Development for IGT, before spending time with Aristocrat in both Australia and the United Kingdom. But it was after leaving Aristocrat in late 2016 that Maddox, then Wynn’s President and Chief Financial Officer, came knocking.
The pair worked closely together, and when Maddox was tapped to replace Steve Wynn as CEO in 2018 Billings made the natural step up into the CFO role.
He was later called on to lead the company’s digital arm, Wynn Interactive Ltd, and was announced as such in mid-2021 before a failed SPAC merger saw the company’s direction change and Billings pegged instead to replace Maddox as CEO of the full Wynn Resorts group, as well as its Macau subsidiary Wynn Macau Ltd.
Billings has stepped into the Wynn limelight at a good time, with the company’s US domestic operations enjoying a stunning recovery from the recent pandemic days. Operating revenues at Wynn Las Vegas grew 58% year-on-year in the June quarter while EBITDA was 40% higher than the company’s pre-pandemic record. As Billings explained on the company’s 2Q22 earnings call, other quarterly records that were beaten included EBITDA margin, Wynn slot handle, non-baccarat table win, hotel revenue and restaurant and bar revenue.
There are also new developments on the horizon, with Wynn announcing in January plans to develop a new multi-billion dollar integrated resort, with gaming, in the United Arab Emirates. Due to open in 2026, the resort will be built on the man-made Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah and feature a luxury hotel with more than 1,000 rooms, a high-end shopping mall, a state- of-the-art meeting and convention facility, an exclusive spa, more than 10 restaurants and lounges, an array of entertainment choices and other amenities.
Less certain though is Macau, where losses are mounting and uncertainty as high as ever amid the ongoing re-tender for gaming licenses. Billings will also have his hands full managing a vastly different management team, after both Wynn Macau President Ian Michael Coughlan and Wynn Macau Resort COO Ciarán Carruthers announced recently that they would be stepping down. Former Wynn Palace head Fredric Luvisutto has been appointed Wynn Macau Ltd COO, but input from Billings will be crucial in guiding the company back to profitability over the next few years.
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