For one final night, Elaine Wynn ‘was presiding over the entire Strip’
As a journalist, I had many interactions over the years with Elaine Wynn. I’m glad I was able to speak with her at The Mirage closing event last July and in December for a story on her former executive assistant.
Punam Mathur took an evening drive down the Strip last week to see the lights.
But this cruise had a much different meaning than any others she’s navigated.
Earlier that day, news spread that her friend and mentor, Elaine Wynn, had passed away following a brief illness. Strip resort executives quickly embraced a fitting tribute. For more than an hour, every resort marquee carried her image with a simple message: Elaine Wynn — 1942-2025.
“What made it so special for me is that she was presiding over the entire Strip that she helped deliver to the world,” Mathur said. “I reflected on the days when she had to use her elbows to be able to claim the chair around the good old boys. To see her presiding over the whole Strip was so special.”
Wynn, who was 82, helped create many of the resorts whose marquees featured her image, including Wynn Las Vegas, Encore, Bellagio and Treasure Island. Her image was also on the canopy above the downtown Fremont Street Experience — especially fitting, as the Golden Nugget was where she made her first mark on Las Vegas.
Working alongside her former husband, Steve Wynn, and her close friend, Interior Design Hall of Fame member Roger Thomas, her legacy on the Strip remains.
“Elaine Wynn was the most significant woman in my career — a profound source of inspiration, a crucial critic, and a steadfast guide,” Thomas wrote on his Facebook page last week. “Her unwavering encouragement and decisive course corrections were always given with generosity. She was my mentor, my dear friend, and simply the most extraordinary woman I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing.”
Mathur, the executive director of the Elaine P. Wynn & Family Foundation, has a mission on behalf of the organization — to see through the development of the $200 million Las Vegas Museum of Art in Symphony Park near The Smith Center for Performing Arts.
The museum, which is being developed as an affiliate of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where Wynn had served as the co-chair of the board since 2015, is expected to begin construction next year and open by 2028.
“Elaine referred to it as her last hurrah,” Mathur said. “She told me, ‘I have one more lift left in me.’ But she followed with her time and energy. Elaine wasn’t a drive-by donor.”
Last month, Wynn visited with newly elected Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley, who gave her full support of the museum, though the idea originated with former Mayor Carolyn Goodman.
Berkley said she told Wynn the art museum was her legacy for Las Vegas.
The two women, who have known each other for decades, viewed Symphony Park and the planned museum’s location from the mayor’s top-floor office balcony at City Hall. Berkley recalled the meeting as “two people who had known each other forever and had a great appreciation for what the other person contributed to the community. I think that moment touched us both in a very profound way. We were both looking forward to the future,” she said.
On a personal note, I had a 30-minute conversation with Wynn last December for a story about Shawn Cardinal, her longtime former executive assistant.
I reminded her of a moment during the 1989 opening ceremonies for The Mirage. Michael Milken, who helped finance the resort’s construction through high-yield junk bonds, attended the event, even though he had been indicted for violating U.S. securities laws. As I went up to try and interview him, Elaine deftly locked elbows with Milken and steered him away from me. She laughed about it, remembering my failed attempt.
The conversation also turned to the art museum. Wynn was planning a meeting with the potential architect to discuss an idea for a sculpture garden.
“We’re still a young city and we need to make this into a lovely place for everyone to enjoy,” she said.
Canadian visitors continue to avoid Vegas; Reid Airport sees another passenger decline
Harry Reid International Airport saw its second-straight monthly passenger decline in March, but the drop-off wasn’t as steep as February. However, passenger volume from Canada’s three largest airlines slid for the second month in a row.
In a statement Tuesday, the Clark County Department of Aviation said more than 4.8 million passengers came through the airport in March, a decline of 4 percent from the previous month. Total passenger volume is down 3.7 percent for the first three months of 2025 compared with 2024.
And for the second straight month, air passenger totals from Canada’s three major airlines with service to Las Vegas continued to decline from a year ago. This comes as many Canadian citizens have cited a general disrespect toward the country coming from the White House as well as the U.S. trade war with the country.
WestJet, Reid’s busiest Canadian air carrier, experienced a 14.4 percent decline to 64,000 passengers. Air Canada saw a 6 percent drop to 57,000 passengers. Flair, a low-cost carrier out of Edmonton, had the largest decrease, down 62 percent to 14,500 passengers.
International passenger volume fell less than 1 percent to almost 313,000. For the first three months of 2025, international passenger volume is up almost 5 percent compared with a year ago.
What I'm reading
🏗️ CEO: J Resort ‘will be the nicest casino in the market’ — Rob Sabo, Nevada Appeal
The owner announced $128 million of development, marking the project’s halfway point.
✈️ As international visitors stay away, Yellowstone tourism industry banks on Americans — Angus M. Thuermer Jr., WyoFile
Las Vegas isn’t the only U.S. destination that has challenges drawing international visitors.
⚠️ Warning sounded again for Atlantic City: Prepare for New York City casino competition — Wayne Parry, Press of Atlantic City
Casinos are coming to New York City, and that is unsettling to Boardwalk casino operators.
💸 Adelson, Fertitta lead list of sports donors to Trump inauguration — Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico
$1 million each from Las Vegas Sands stockholder Miriam Adelson, who owns the Dallas Mavericks, and Tilman Fertitta, Wynn Resorts' largest shareholder and Houston Rockets owner.
News, notes and quotes
⚾ County approves improvement district for A’s stadium
The Athletics moved closer to announcing a June groundbreaking date for the team’s $1.75 billion Las Vegas ballpark after Clark County commissioners approved the 9-acre site as a Sports and Entertainment Improvement District. The creation of the district on land that once housed the Tropicana Las Vegas will raise an estimated $120 million, which will go toward the $350 million in public financing provided through the Legislature’s passage of SB1 in 2023. The enclosed stadium will have 30,000 seats and standing areas for another 3,000 fans. A’s owner John Fisher has committed at least $1.1 billion toward the stadium development.
💸 Analyst: Gaming executives support no tax on tips
A few Las Vegas-based gaming executives have expressed support for eliminating the federal income tax on tipped wages and/or Social Security payments. CBRE Institutional Research analyst John DeCree wrote in a research note that the topic came up last month during conversations with the CEOs and chief financial officers of seven Las Vegas casino operators. DeCree wrote that the company leaders thought the action would provide a boost for gaming, especially the Las Vegas locals market, “given the prevalence of tipped wages as a percentage of total income for service industry employees.” The executives thought the action would lead to an increase in disposable income, which would be spent in the local economy.