Stephen Alan Wynn was born on January 27th, 1942 in New Haven, Connecticut, and is best known for being an American casino developer. He was thought to be responsible for the efforts of reestablishing Las Vegas in the 90s, spearheading the resurgence and expansion of the Vegas strip.

His companies refurbished and built some of the most widely recognized resorts in Las Vegas to date, such as the Golden Nugget, The Mirage, Treasure Island, Bellagio, and Wynn. Wynn currently lives with his wife in a suite at Wynn Las Vegas, awaiting completion of their Highlands Golf Club home. He has two daughters, Kevyn and Gillian. Wynn suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, which affects his peripheral vision.

Wynn's father Michael Weinberg ran a host of bingo parlors in the United States. In the late 40s, he changed his name to “Wynn”, a marketing strategy and an attempt to counter anti-Jewish bias.

Wynn was raised in Utica, NY, and graduated from The Manlius School in 1959. He studied cultural anthropology and English literature at the University of Pennsylvania where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. His father died of complications fro open-heart surgery in 1963, just shortly before Wynn was to graduate. Wynn married his wife, Elaine Farrell Pascal, that very same year.

Wynn took over the family's bingo operation in Maryland. He seemed to be a natural and did well enough to accumulate enough money to purchase a small stake in the Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. After a few years, Wynn was able to parlay his profits from a land deal in 1971 which included two established titans, Howard Hughes and Caesars Palace.

This allowed him to take the controlling interest in the Golden Nugget Casino. Wynn renovated the casino and spruced up its image by expanding the landmark from a simple gambling hall, to a full-fledged resort hotel and casino with enormous success.

Wynn has also procured interests in a few existing casinos. His first major casino located on the main strip was The Mirage, which opened in 1989. The Mirage featured an indoor forest and outdoor volcano, and placed a high emphasis on quality service.

The Mirage was considered a high-risk move for Wynn because of the high costs to build. However, it proved to be immediately and enormously successful and Wynn's footprints were now part of the Vegas foundation. Wynn's next venture, the 450 million dollar Treasure Island Hotel and Casino, opened in 1993. With a live pirate show and its location next to the Mirage, Treasure Island was another huge success for Wynn.

Wynn expanded further on his luxurious ideals with the Bellagio. This venture would cost an outstanding 1.6 billion dollars. The resort included an artificial lake, indoor conservatory, a museum-quality art gallery, and branches of high-end boutiques and restaurants from France to New York City.

Mirage Resorts was sold to MGM Grand for 6.6 billion dollars in 2000 to form the MGM Mirage. With the money made on the deal, Wynn built a new resort, the Wynn Las Vegas, which opened on the former site of the Desert Inn in 2005.