'Nobody likes being around poor people': Billionaire casino owner Steve Wynn makes controversial remarks at company's first ever investor day

Billionaire businessman and casino owner Steve Wynn is under fire after telling a group of investors at his company's first ever investor day; 'Nobody likes being around poor people.'

'Rich people only like being around rich people,' said Wynn, adding that even poor people do not even like being around other poor people.

Wynn, who is worth $2.8billion,  made the comment at the very beginning of his speech to investors, where he also revealed details of the company's upcoming projects in Macau and Boston as well as a new lake resort casino he is set to begin work on in Las Vegas.

That resort, which Wynn said will be 'just like Disney,' will cost $1.6billion to build. The Macau resort will cost $4billion and the Boston casino approximately $2billion. 

Off the cuff: Steve Wynn (above in September) hosted his company's first ever investor day on Thursday. He said during the meeting; 'Rich people only like being around rich people, nobody likes being around poor people, especially poor people'

Gambling paradise: Wynn, 74, who is worth $2.8billion, also presented three casino projects his company has in the works. One is a lake resort in Las Vegas (model above) he said will be 'just like Disney'

'This company caters to the top-end of the gaming world. We're sort of a Chanel, Louis Vuitton to use the comparison the metaphor of the retail business,' Wynn, 74, said during the talk in a transcript obtained by Seeking Alpha. 

'But unlike Chanel and Louis Vuitton, we are able in our business to cater to all of the market by making our standard so high that everybody wants to in the building. 

'Or to put it in a more colloquial way, rich people only like being around rich people, nobody likes being around poor people especially poor people. 

'So we try and make the place feel upscale for everyone, that is to say, we cater the people who have discretion and judgment and give them a choice and we are consistent in that, whether the economy is up or the economy is down, we don't do layoffs, we pay attention to our capital structure, so that we don't bounce around our employee base and we don't bounce around our service levels.'

Wynn is the most famous, and successful, casino owner in the world, having been behind countless properties in Las Vegas and Atlantic City including the Golden Nugget, the Mirage, the Bellagio, Treasure island and now the Encore and Wynn resorts an casinos.

He is also an avid art collector and owns or has owned works by Picasso, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Monet, Jeff Koons.

In 2006, he famously put his elbow through Picasso's La Reve while showing it to friends, just before he was set to sell it to hedge fund manager Steven Cohen for a then record-breaking $139 million.

The sale was cancelled when the story of what happened broke, and the painting was repaired at a cost of $90,000. Wynn also later sued his insurance company for failing to pay out what he claims should have been a $54million claim for lost value after he damaged the painting.

Past loved: Wynn has been married three times - twice to fiurst wife Elaine (left in 2007) and then in 2011 to Andrea Hissom (right in 2011)

Whoops: In 2006, he famously put his elbow through Picasso's La Reve (above) while showing it to friends, just before he was set to sell it to hedge fund manager Steven Cohen for a then record-breaking $139 million

Wynn married his first wife Elaine in 1963, divorced her in 1986, remarried her in 1991 and divorced her once again in 2010, with Elaine remaining on the board of his company until last year.

The two are still locked in a contentious court battle however, with Elaine, 73, filing papers last month asking that her husband give her access to more than $900million worth of stock she received in their divorce.

Elaine, who is worth $1.9billion, said she had handed the shares over to her husband to control after she was awarded them in the divorce 'to help her partner of 41 years and the father of her children.'

The couple has two daughters, Kevyn and Gillian. Keyn was kidnapped in 1993 when she was 27 years old and Wynn paid $1.45million in cash from the casino vault for her safe return. 

Police were later able to apprehend the kidnappers as one tried to purchase a Ferrari.

In 2011, Wynn married socialite Andrea Hissom, 52, the mother of model and singer Nick Hissom.