Charlie Rose interviewed casino king Steve Wynn. Among the topics, which of course included the difficulties that the casino industry currently faces, was his now famous elbowing of one of his paintings, La Reve, which he had sold to SAC Capital’s Steve Cohen:
In 2006 Wynn had a contract to sell it for $139 million, a record price for a painting.
He was showing it off to some friends when an unfortunate mishap occurred. “In gesturing to the picture I turned to the right and caught her right on the arm, and poked a hole in the picture the size of the end of my thumb. We stood there in shock. I can’t believe I’d done it. Oh no. Oh no. And then I said, ‘Thank God it was me and not someone else.’”
He had the picture restored and it’s no longer for sale. “But the fact of the matter is, what stands historically is that the painting, the painting was damaged by its owner, ‘the Clouseau of collectors, Wynn,’” he joked. “But look, people make mistakes.”
Casino Mogul Steve Wynn’s Midas Touch – 60 Minutes
Tags: Art, Casinos, SAC Capital, Stave Cohen, Steve Wynn
