Former Crown CEO Carruthers steps down

Former Crown CEO Carruthers steps down

 After almost two years in the position, Ciarán Carruthers, chief executive officer of Crown Resorts, is planning to resign.  He has been extended until December 31st.
 Australian crown
 According to several news sources, David Tsai, now serving as president and chief operating officer, will take over for Carruthers on September 1st.  Until a permanent successor is located, Tsai will step in.

 As reported by the Financial Review, Carruthers guided Crown for the past two years amidst regulatory uncertainty and government penalties.  When it came to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism regulations, the casino was in the wrong.  Among the layoffs that Carruthers supervised was the elimination of over a thousand positions.

 Crown reorganised its executive suite approximately one month prior to the announcement.  Transforming Tsai from head of Crown's Perth property into an executive job was a significant event at that time.  Crown Perth promoted Brian Pereira from chief financial officer to interim chief executive officer (CEO) while they conducted a search and Nicole Pelchen became chief technology officer.  A new chief government relations officer, Gemma Allman, has been appointed.

 What Carruthers said was that "now is an appropriate time to depart and pursue other interests," as reported in The Nightly.  Staff members said he expressed his pride in their work over the past two years.

 Considered a success by Carruthers, tenure
 Crown Melbourne and Crown Sydney have been approved by their respective state regulators, and the transformation program for Crown Perth is already well underway, he announced. "We have successfully steered Crown Resorts through a period of intensive transformation and remediation," he added.

 Blackstone hired Carruthers and other prominent casino executives after it bought Crown in 2022. Carruthers is Irish.  For a total of AU$8.9bn (£4.5bn/$6bn/€5.4bn), the deal was sealed.  After working in casinos like Wynn Macau for decades, Carruthers decided to join.

 Carruthers had earlier this year voiced his belief in Crown's ability to successfully maintain licenses in both Sydney and Melbourne.

 The review into Crown's Perth operations has not yet produced its findings.

 Carruthers found not guilty in probe
 Crown Resorts was not an easy place for Carruthers to work.  An investigation into claims that he had disregarded security personnel's orders to not serve customers who were visibly intoxicated began in December 2023.

 Allegedly, he let customers back inside the company's Melbourne casino after security had removed them.  By February of the following year, he had been exonerated.

 Also planning to retire on August 31st is casino officer Justin Casey.