VICE CHAIRMAN, COO AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Wynn Macau
POWER SCORE: 770
POSITION LAST YEAR: 19
CLAIMS TO FAME
- Go-to person for government relations at Wynn Macau since inception
- Set to assume even greater leadership role from 2023
THE WYNN LEADERSHIP ROUNDABOUT has certainly been spinning in recent years, with the sudden departure of company founder Steve Wynn in 2018 followed more recently by the loss of Matt Maddox. In Macau there has been similar upheaval, with long-time Wynn Macau Resort COO Ciarán Carruthers and Wynn Macau Ltd President Ian Michael Coughlan both stepping down over the past few months.
Yet one constant throughout the past 20 years has been Linda Chen. The former Las Vegas casino executive and trusted confidante of Steve Wynn – having been part of the opening team for The Mirage in 1989 (plus MGM Grand in 1993 and Bellagio in 1998) – joined Wynn Macau in 2002 and has been part of the company’s journey throughout the entire 20 years of its original casino concession.
She is also overseeing Wynn’s bid under the Macau government’s ongoing re-tender process, no doubt utilizing her government relations skills to their fullest during recent negotiations.
While the VIP sector she once looked after for Wynn is now in steady decline, Chen’s role is not: with Coughlan stepping aside from his role as President in February 2023 to take on an advisory role with the company instead, Chen will take over as Wynn Macau President on top of her current Vice Chairman and COO roles. Proof perhaps that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
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