[MSN] Billionaire Stephen Wynn sued Lloyd's of London after submitting a claim for $54 million he lost by accidentally tearing his 75-year-old Pablo Picasso painting ``Le Reve.''

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Wynn Sues Lloyd's After Claiming $54 Million for Picasso Tear

By David Glovin

Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Stephen Wynn, chairman of gaming company
Wynn Resorts Ltd., sued Lloyd's of London after submitting a claim for $54
million he lost by accidentally tearing his 75-year-old Pablo Picasso
painting ``Le Reve.''

Wynn, 64, whose Wynn Resorts owns casinos in Las Vegas and Macau, is seeking
documents related to the insurer's appraisal of the work, worth $139 million
before it was damaged Sept. 30. A restorer said the repaired painting is
worth $85 million, a complaint filed yesterday in Manhattan federal court
said.

The casino owner said he hasn't been paid yet or received a counter-offer
from the 300-year-old insurance market. He is seeking to compel Lloyd's to
surrender its documents appraising the loss. His lawyer, Barry Slotnick,
said Wynn may later sue to recover his financial loss if Lloyd's refuses to
pay $54 million.

``We do believe we're entitled to the loss,'' Slotnick said in an interview.
``We have been waiting.''

Lloyd's has 66 membership syndicates that insure everything from satellites,
art and jewelry to commercial buildings and airplanes. The underwriting
business is backed by individual and corporate members. Spokesman Thor
Valdamis declined to comment.

Wynn, who suffers from an eye disease that affects his peripheral vision,
struck the artwork with his right elbow while showing it to friends in his
Las Vegas office. He left a silver- dollar-size hole in the left forearm of
the painting's subject, Picasso's mistress Marie-Theresa Walter, Slotnick
said.

Painting

Wynn paid $48.4 million for the painting in 1997 and had agreed to sell it
to art collector Steven Cohen, founder of hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors
LLC, for $139 million, Slotnick said. The accident was witnessed by
screenwriter Nora Ephron, Barbara Walters and writer Nicholas Pileggi,
according to the lawyer.

Kim Sinatra, the chief lawyer at Wynn Resorts, said in a Nov. 3 letter
included in court papers that Wynn's sales contract had been reached ``less
than 24 hours prior to the damage.''

Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts opened the $1.2 billion Wynn Macau in September
on the Chinese island. The company plans to build a second casino in Macau,
the former Portuguese colony that is the only place in China where gambling
is legal.

The lawsuit is Wynn v. Lloyd's, 07-CV-202, Southern District of New York
(Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: David Glovin in federal court in New
York at dglovin at bloomberg.net . 

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Billionaire Stephen Wynn sued Lloyd's of London after submitting a claim for
$54 million he lost by accidentally tearing his 75-year-old Pablo Picasso
painting ``Le Reve.''