Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) has made plans for a special shareholder meeting to vote on removing Japanese business man Kazuo Okada from its board of directors.
The company began the process with a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Wednesday morning for preliminary proxy materials needed for the meeting.
The vote comes in light of a February announcement by the company that found after a year-long investigation that Okada had regularly violated “company conduct policies and U.S. anti-corruption laws,” according to AP.
Wynn Resorts has said with Okada’s exit, it will take back his shares but the troublesome shareholder ‘s casino game company, Universal Entertainment Corp., will obtain a court order to prevent this.
In February, Okada said in statement to Philippine lawmakers that he planned to “vigorously” move forward with his $2 billion casino project in their county and show “that all of the accusations are baseless and are lies that have been blown out of proportion.”
Wednesday’s regulatory filing had Wynn Resorts saying that its shareholders of record as of March 30 will be able to vote at the meeting. The date still needs to be determined.
To get Okada off the board, a minimum of two-thirds of the shareholders need to vote to do so.
In a statement on Wednesday by Wynn Resorts that called for the special vote, Okada and some of his associates had been referred to as “unsuitable persons.”
Where did this come from? According to Bloomberg, Okada gave improper payments and gifts, valued at $110,000 to Philippine regulators and their families. After forcibly trying to take Okada’s stake through his casino company, Wynn Resort’s founder and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Wynn and Okada have been clashing.
Now, it seems that the end will have to come from Okada’s board removal.
The two men have had a business relationship since Okada helped fund Wynn Resorts a dozen years ago.
