By Colin Kruger
Outgoing Crown Resorts chief executive Steve McCann plans to take a break from corporate life when he walks away from the role $9 million richer in September after a tumultuous 16 months in charge of the casino operator.
“It has been intense. I am looking forward to a break,” McCann told The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald soon after his departure was announced.
Crown Resorts chief executive Steve McCann has stepped down.Credit: Peter Rae
McCann, who previously led property giant LendLease, was appointed Crown’s CEO last year in the wake of a damning NSW inquiry which found it was unfit to hold a casino license. Since then, Crown has managed to hang on to its casino licences in three states, and secure an $8.9 billion sale to US private equity giant Blackstone.
McCann said it would be hard to identify a company that has gone through what Crown has in recent times.
“To deal with all of that at the same time as a change of control, with the negotiation of a takeover, and trying to recover from the impact of COVID in an industry which is probably one of the hardest-hit industries. That’s a significant combination of events all at once,” he said.
McCann was almost reduced to tears just five weeks into the job last year when he was brutally interrogated about Crown’s failings at one of three public inquiries.
Blackstone is installing its own executives following the completion of the takeover last month, along with casino veteran Ciarán Carruthers who will take over as CEO. Carruthers, who already has Australian permanent residency, is currently overseeing US casino company Wynn’s operations in Macau.
Blackstone flagged more executive appointments to head each of its casinos in Australia. “Further senior appointments including the CEO of Crown Melbourne and CEO of Crown Perth will be announced in due course,” Blackstone said in a statement announcing the transition from McCann’s role to Carruthers beginning in September and subject to probity approval.
With the transformation largely complete, McCann said the focus now was on the new team to take the company forward.
“The next phase is really about Blackstone coming in and really grabbing hold of what needs to be done from here, and investing the assets to drive the growth of the business. And I think that phase needs to be a different team. That was always my expectation,” he said.
Former Virgin Australia boss John Borghetti has been appointed chairman of the Crown Sydney board. Credit: Louise Kennerley
Crown flagged McCann’s expected exit at the time of the takeover.
McCann was awarded a $2.5 million salary when he joined Crown. He was also entitled to $5.2 million from a one-off grant of 400,000 performance rights that vested with Blackstone’s takeover.
Blackstone executive Chris Tynan paid tribute to McCann for his role in leading Crown’s overhaul.
“We thank Steve for his leadership over the last 13 months, including implementing a strong reform and remediation plan and improving the culture of Crown Resorts. We wish the best for him as he pursues other opportunities.
“Blackstone is committed to investing in Crown, helping it realise its true potential as a world-class leader in travel and leisure,” Tynan said.
Philip Crawford, chairman of Crown’s regulator - the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority - also indicated these changes were expected.
“We’ve given probity clearance to quite a lot of people on the Blackstone team,” Crawford said when Crown received conditional approval for a casino licence at Barangaroo last month.
“Their arrangements with Steve McCann and other people are between Blackstone and Crown. That’s not something we need to interfere with. That’s market-driven and commercial,” he said.
Former Virgin Australia boss John Borghetti has been appointed chairman of the Crown Sydney board.
Parent company Crown Resorts is now chaired by Bill McBeath who stepped down as the chief executive of The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas last month after Blackstone sold the business.
The former CEO of HBF Health, John Van Der Wielen, has been appointed chairman of Crown’s Perth operations.
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