Thursday, April 15, 2010

CNBC Makes Elaine Wynn = Gold Digger

My AOL News piece over the weekend on Steve Wynn's suggestion that his split from Elaine was the most expensive divorce ever somehow didn't make the local papers, TV news or KNPR, but it did catch fire around the nation and on the Web, including this piece from The Week.

Sometimes, though, it was in the form of such astoundingly ignorance as this CNBC clip:













It would be nice if CNBC would bother to get an actual Vegas expert on this discuss such a matter or, say, credit the article they're quoting from. (They seem to think this information came from their guest?!?) But it's simply jarring how this stooge can't comprehend why Steve and Elaine remain on good terms after "she took half his entire wealth."

That said, I was taken to task, too, for even positioning this story as Steve Wynn's divorce and not simply their divorce. I admit Shaker Vanshar has a point that I will consider going forward -- especially given my own visceral reaction to the CNBC jazz. Still, if we were to break down the percentage of the Wynn success attributable to him and her, he's the one who does most of the hard work making deals, negotiating with governments and banks, imagining the big picture and turning it into reality. Elaine is no doubt a pivotal player, but if it wasn't a marriage and she were just leaving the company, she wouldn't receive this kind of severance.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those CNBC people sure are boobs, regardless of whatever point they're trying to make. I'm sure the Vegas punditocracy would be very reassured if Elaine Wynn were to be the next chairman of the Wynn Resorts board because it taken as a sign that the Wynn corporate mission would remain intact. You don't want some bean-counter overseeing that company.

David McKee

Dasan 888 said...

Steve, this is CNBC, not the new york times. This is their typical low level crap. real investment professionals never watch CNBC unless their is some major breaking news like the Fed speaking, etc.

Anonymous said...

Despite the reality, the fact is a divorce means the assets are distributed and the dollar figure is the price. The divorce IS expensive; however, this does not mean Elaine is a gold digger, but she is definitely rich and probably has earned her share. Nonetheless, her earnings cannot account for such a large figure. Don't accounting calls that "goodwill". In divorce, you call it marital assets. Your last few sentences is pretty accurate. She would not leave with such a big amount if not for the marriage. Steve placed a monetary value on her goodwill.