James Packer Poaches Top Talent From Wynn Resorts

Aussie billionaire James Packer is half owner of the Crown Resorts, a casino empire estimated to be around $10 billion and spread across Australia, Macau and London. The Crown did not have a presence in Las Vegas but Packer promised that the company had plans to set up its first casino in Vegas before 2018.

Packer has proposed to construct a mega casino resort in Vegas that is estimated to be around $4 billion and have a luxury hotel that has around 1,100 rooms. To set up a successful operation in Las Vegas, Packer has decided to hire some of the best talent available in the Vegas market and has targeted the Wynn Resorts.

Wynn Resorts is a $11 billion casino empire that runs some of the most impressive casinos in the world. Steve Wynn helped build the Wynn brand and casino empire and did that by hiring and retaining some of the best talent available in the market. Packer has been successful in poaching some of their top talent and bringing them over to the Crown. Packer has hired a number of executives who had worked with Wynn Resorts including Andrew Pascal, the former president and chief operating officer of Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Las Vegas.

Packer’s most recent hire from Wynn Resorts is Jesse Waits, the man responsible for running Wynn’s XS and Tryst nightclubs. Waits was responsible for turning XS into the most successful nightclub in the United States bringing in annual revenue that exceeded $105 million. Waits had stated that through his leadership, the nightclubs were bringing in a profit margin of around 70%, when compared to other nightclubs in the country which brought in round 30%.

Waits was responsible for building and turning Wynn’s XS and Tryst nightclubs into the success they are today. His leaving will be a big blow for Wynn but a huge gain for Packer’s Vegas casino. Waits credits a lot of his growth and success to Steve Wynn and his attention to detail.

Speaking about Steve Wynn, Waits once said said

When I see him, I have everything, all my numbers, my profit and loss, and my margins. Whereas before, it wasn’t really part of my program. He wants to know the bottom line and what the margin is, how many pixels are in the LEDs, who’s the DJ. He has so many questions and if you slip, you feel like a fool.