Las Vegas-based casino operator Wynn Resorts is giving more opportunity for women to be heard in the company in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal involving its founder and former CEO Steve Wynn.
The Nasdaq-listed firm announced that that it has expanded the composition of its board members to 11 in order to give way to the appointments of three “highly-qualified” women as independent directors.
Wynn Resorts said the appointments of Betsy Atkins, Dee Dee Myers and Wendy Webb as independent directors “signify a turning point” for the casino operator that is still reeling from a scandal tied to the former executive. The announcement comes a day after Elaine Wynn, currently the largest single shareholder of the casino company, request an overhaul of the entire board to “fully restore” Wynn Resorts’ reputation.
The appointments of Atkins, Myers, and Webb to Wynn Resorts bring the composition of women in the company to 36 percent, catapulting the casino operator to the top 40 S&P 500 companies in terms of female board representation.
D. Boone Wayson, chairman of the Wynn Resorts Board of Directors, said the company intends to a few more new directors in the coming months.
“To be clear, this is the first step in our effort to refresh the Board,” Wayson said in a statement.
Atkins, author of “Behind Boardroom Doors: Lessons of a Corporate Director,” is recognized as an expert in corporate governance and digital transformation, consumer experience and technology.
Meanwhile, Myers is known in the political circle as the ex-spokesman of former U.S. President Bill Clinton and the first woman to serve as the White House press secretary. She is currently the executive vice president for Worldwide Corporate Communications and Public Affairs at Warner Bros. Entertainment.
Finally, Webb is currently a director of ABM Industries, where she serves on the Audit Committee and Strategy and Risk Committee, and is on the board of 9 Spokes, a software company.
Aside from the appointments of the three women, Wynn Resorts noted significant actions to improve the workplace environment in response to the allegations regarding its former CEO. The company said it created a new department focusing on gender equality, diversity, fair treatment and female leadership and launched new employee benefits, such as paid parental leave.
It also sold the Wynn founder’s stock in the company, including 8 million shares to two long-term institutional investors, as part of the sweeping reform in the Wynn Resorts.
The post Women get more representation in Wynn Resorts board shakeup appeared first on CalvinAyre.com.
0 comments:
Post a Comment