Las Vegas Mogul Donates $25 Million to University

According to the Associated Press, Las Vegas casino mogul, developer and billionaire Steve Wynn has announced the donation of $25 million to the University of Iowa to help fund vision research.

Over a period of five years, Las Vegas casino developer and billionaire Steve Wynn pays $25 million to the University of Iowa Institute for Vision Research, a lab that is working on finding cure to eye diseases, including retinitis pigmentosa, a rare one that Wynn himself has inherited and that impairs night and peripheral vision. The institute, which will be renamed in honour of the CEO of Wynn Resorts, has already pioneered ways to help patients through gene and stem cell therapies.

71 years old Wynn’s disease only affects one in four thousand people and it has caused him more than enough trouble; apart from having to require the assistance of an aide during nighttime events, it had also resulted in him damaging an original painting from Pablo Picasso, worth $155 million (the price at which he sold it after restoration). Wynn and the director of his foundation, Steve Dezii have long since been looking for and supporting researches in the field, but had no prior interest in Iowa or the state university.

They have, however, been in contact with institute director Ed Stone and, achieving results through globally conducted genetic tests and developing gene therapies, the institution has gained the interest and support of the two.

“As a person who knows firsthand what it is like to lose vision from a rare inherited eye disease, I want to do everything I can to help others who are similarly affected. I am thrilled by the pace of the scientific progress that has occurred in the past few years and I feel that the prospect of finding a cure is possible and probable in the short term and certain in the long term," reads Wynn’s statement of the donation.

The $25 million Wynn has agreed to donate is over double the annual budget of the institute. The 30 faculty and 100 staff will therefore be expanded by 10 new faculty “from among the brightest in the field” and they will double the laboratory space as well, according to Stone. "We want to translate that money into effective treatments as fast as we can,” he added.

With scientist usually focusing less on such rare diseases, Wynn and Dezii aim to aid with the donation those who suffer from these “orphan disorders”.