Built to Last

Tatler catches up with Wynn Macau's Linda Chen, nearly 20 years after Wynn first made its mark in Hong Kong's sister SAR By Andrea Lo. Photography by Zed Leets

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When Linda Chen first entered the world of hospitality in 1989, Las Vegas was still a desert town on the cusp of reinvention. What she didn’t know then was that she would play a pivotal role in the transformation of not just that city, but also of another—Macau, a more recent rising star in global tourism. Today, as president, vice-chairman and executive director of Wynn Macau, Chen is a force to be reckoned with in the territory, having lived there for more than two decades, and a prominent figure in the global hospitality industry.

Born in Taiwan to mainland Chinese parents, Chen moved to the US to study; she has a degree in hotel administration from Cornell University. And then, Las Vegas came calling. “When I first started, I thought I could work for a while and then go back to further [my] education, but the interest [in Las Vegas] and its evolution kept me there,” says Chen. During her time in Las Vegas, she opened some of the strip’s most iconic properties: The Mirage, Bellagio and MGM Grand. “Every time you open a property, you achieve higher standards, you learn a bit more and you always find different ways to make it better because of your experience,” she says, adding that it also helps to always “listen, watch and be ready for the next move”.