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Crown Resorts CEO Ciaran Carruthers to Depart Australian Casino Company
Amidst regulatory unrest, Ciaran Carruthers, CEO of Crown Resorts, is leaving the Australian casino corporation he helped restructure.
On Monday, Crown declared that Carruthers will leave the position of group CEO on September 1. David Tsai, Crown President and Chief Operating Officer, will take over as CEO in an acting capacity on that day.
John Borghetti, the chair of Crown Resorts, who joined the Crown board in June after leading Virgin Australia, praised Carruthers for his leadership during a pivotal period in the history of the casino company, which led to the company's corporate restructuring and preservation of its highly sought-after gaming licenses.
"Under Ciaran’s leadership, Crown has achieved critical milestones including a business transformation and remediation program,” said Borghetti. “Ciaran’s leadership and contribution has been highly valued, and we wish him every success in the future.”
Carruthers will continue to serve as an advisor for Crown until he leaves completely before the end of the year.
Gainful Tenure
For more than $6 billion, US-based private equity behemoth Blackstone purchased Crown Resorts and its three casinos, Crown Melbourne, Crown Perth, and Crown Sydney, in the beginning of 2022. In addition, Crown controls 50% of the Aspers Group, which operates four regional casinos in the United Kingdom, Betfair Australasia, and Crown London, a private high-end members club in the posh Mayfair neighborhood.
At the time, Crown was the subject of Australian government investigations, which found serious compliance violations in the company's efforts to prevent terrorism and money laundering.
Blackstone agreed to pay $450 million in inquiry fines, saving the company that billionaire James Packer had built. Blackstone then spent more than $130 million updating Crown's operations to satisfy investigation findings in New South Wales and Victoria. Blackstone controls the real estate of numerous well-known Las Vegas Strip casinos, including the Bellagio, The Cosmopolitan, and Aria.
In September 2022, Blackstone Brass appointed Carruthers to oversee the company's turnaround. Steve McCann, the current head of Crown rival Star Entertainment, was replaced by him.
Despite a decline in customer spending, Carruthers was praised for strengthening the company's business performance and regulatory compliance.
"I am very pleased to hand over a stronger, compliant, and transformed business to its next leader. There is more work to do, but I am very proud of what we have achieved as a team,” said Carruthers.
Carruthers traveled through Macau, China, to reach Australia. He was the COO of Wynn Macau and had previously served as director of operations and senior vice president at Sands China's Venetian and Palazzo resorts.
Turn off the light on details.
Carruthers slashed more than 1,000 positions while serving as CEO in order to increase Crown's profitability. According to Carruthers, rising interest rates and inflationary pressures put a strain on consumers' discretionary expenditure.
Carruthers promised to lessen Crown's dependence on opulent services and casino gaming in order to attract a larger pool of potential patrons. Crown launched a marketing campaign emphasizing that everyone can visit its resorts without having to be a high roller or VIP.
Carruthers' period was seen successful by most. However, Crown omitted to say if Carruthers left on his own initiative or if the business is looking for a new CEO.
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