Wynn or Sands? ‘Shake-up’ headline creates confusion

By Steve Green

Friday, March 13, 2009 | 1:47 p.m.

Heartbeats may have risen momentarily for executives at Wynn Resorts on March 10, when this headline popped up on the Forbes.com Web site: "Wynn Resorts Shake-up"

A click on the headline revealed a video report and transcript by Forbes.com Video Network commentator Kym McNicholas saying: "An executive shake-up gave shares of Wynn Resorts a nearly 4 percent boost in extended trading, adding to a 25 percent gain in the regular session. A regulatory filing said COO William Weidner was no longer with the organization or a member of its board of directors. Michael Levin, who has served on the board, will be the new president and COO as of April 1.''

There was no shake-up, of course, at Wynn Resorts. The Forbes.com Video Network had confused Wynn Resorts for its rival across Sands Avenue, Las Vegas Sands Corp., owner of the Venetian and Palazzo resorts. Weidner, in fact, was ousted from Las Vegas Sands last week.

Las Vegas Sands, in the meantime, denied a Hong Kong newspaper report that it may sell its gambling license in the Chinese region of Macau -- the world's largest gambling market.

"We worked very hard to earn the concession and we have no intention of selling the license," Las Vegas Sands spokesman Ron Reese told Bloomberg News.