Famous Vegans - Steve Wynn

Steve Wynn, 2008.

Steve Wynn

Born Stephen Alan Wynn on January 27, 1942. He is a casino resort developer who spearheaded the expansion of the Las Vegas Strip in the 1990s. He renovated or built several resorts, including the Golden Nugget, The Mirage, Treasure Island, Bellagio, Wynn and Encore.

He became vegan in June 2010, after receiving the DVD Eating from his friend, billionaire Gulu Lalvani.

"We started watching it, and after the first five minutes, I’m saying, 'What is this about? A diet?' Then we watched the second five minutes, same thing … but a half-hour into it, I’m saying, ‘Jesus, I didn’t know that.’ Ninety minutes later, I shut off the TV. The next morning it was over. I never had another meat."

Eating promotes the "rave" diet, which is a vegan diet with a high concentration of raw foods and a limitation on processed fats and sugar. He has given a copy of this DVD to his executives, chefs and employees and all Wynn's restaurants offer vegan-friendly menus now.

Quotes by Steve Wynn:

"I’m killing two birds at once, so to speak. Animal-based food kills people. This way by going vegan, we get healthy and save animals."

"The notion that you need animal food as protein is one of the great conspiracies of bullsh*t by the government."

"Did we not all grow up saying we had to have four glasses of whole milk a day for healthy bones? It’s ridiculous. It’s liquid cholesterol."

"Our chefs have really gotten into it with special vegetarian and vegan dishes on each one of our restaurant menus."

"I don’t want any more concentration camps for animals that are cruelly treated, force fed to fatten themselves up for our consumption. I’ve become an animal rights activist. I’m taken care of myself for the rest of my life. So I decided to change my will the last few days in case I croak. I’m not about to, and I’m not planning on that for a long time. But I’ve changed my will to show my concern for animal rights."

Quotes are from a 2010 article Steve Wynn: Viva Las Vegan in Las Vegas Weekly and his 2010 interview by Robin Leach for Las Vegas Weekly.