Norm! column

Jan. 27, 2007

Wynn makes light of Picasso fiasco

[hear the whole Wynn interview by clicking here]

With his patched-up Picasso back in his office, casino mogul Steve Wynn can't resist poking fun at himself these days. He's "the Jacques Clouseau of collectors,"

Wynn told local podcasting duo Steve Friess and Miles Smith during an interview that aired Thursday at www.thestrippodcast.com. It might be a classic case of laughing through tears, since Wynn was referring to his costly goof that left a puncture the size of a silver dollar in Picasso's "Le Reve," French for "The Dream."

Clouseau was the bumbling French police inspector in the "Pink Panther" films. Wynn's faux pas last fall forced him to cancel what would have been a record sale of $139 million for a painting. Wynn had the painting restored for about $100,000 and is suing Lloyd's of London for failing to pay off a $54 million insurance claim.

Wynn, who turns 65 today, shared a nugget of news with Friess and Smith: He's free and clear to begin developing the golf course at Wynn Las Vegas. Work on the project will begin in about three years, he said. Banks had held the land as collateral to secure Wynn's debt when he built the $2.7 billion resort, which opened in April 2005. The company's profits are so strong, Wynn said, that he's now free to develop the land.

While revealing part of his plan, he took a poke at Project CityCenter, MGM Mirage's $7 billion project.

"When the time comes to take away the golf course, it will still be central park there, and the buildings will be on a park. I will never do a dense, CityCenter kind of thing. I've got too much land, and I only paid $1.6 million an acre for it," Wynn said.

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