Step Back From The Paintings! Please!

Steve Wynn is sitting on top of a whole bunch of art. If he handles the merchandise again, he might make a fortune!:

Months after he accidentally poked a hole in a Picasso painting, casino magnate Steve Wynn today sued Lloyd's of London for failing to pay off a $54 million insurance claim. Wynn, who purchased the painting "Le Reve" for $48.4 million in 1997, contends that the painting was worth $139 million when, on September 30, he "accidentally placed a tear" in it while showing the work ... to friends visiting his Las Vegas office. According to Wynn's U.S. District Court complaint, ... the businessman contends that, as a result of the tear, the painting's value has plummeted to $85 million. He has demanded that Lloyd's pay him the difference in the appreciated value of the painting and its post-damage worth. The day before he punctured the painting, Wynn had entered into an agreement with hedge fund titan Steven Cohen to sell "Le Reve" for $139 million. That deal died after the damage was disclosed to Cohen.

As the Movable Buffet notes:

So, if things work out Wynn's way, that elbow was a pretty good mistake for him to make. Wynn claims he is entitled to keep the restored painting as well as to collect a check from the insurance company for $5.6 million more than he originally paid for "Le Reve." With deals like that available why not poke a fork through the rest of the collection and build another resort with the profits?