Blackstone appointee Ciaran Carruthers doesn’t want Crown known as just a casino company
Crown’s new chief executive Ciaran Carruthers is barely a day into his job and is already laying out his lofty ambitions for the tarnished gaming and resorts company.
Crown’s new owner, private equity outfit Blackstone, has brought in the heavy hitters to revamp its acquisition from the two leading gaming and integrated resort markets: Macau and Las Vegas.
On Tuesday – his second day in the job – Crown chief executive Ciaran Carruthers said his ambition is to make the company the largest luxury integrated resort business in the world. It’s a long way to the top for Crown.
A 33-year veteran of gaming – some two decades spent in Macau – Carruthers certainly has the track record to take on Crown. He must also demonstrate to the regulator that it is once again a trusted corporate citizen.
Carruthers started working in casinos as a dealer in 1989, and has lived in Asia since 1991, rising to run operations at two of Macau’s most famous casinos: the largest integrated resort, the Venetian Macau run by Sands China and the world’s most awarded luxury resort, Wynn Macau, where he was chief operating officer.
But in more than three decades, has he ever come across a business where all three of its casinos have been subjected to damning inquiries resulting in highly conditional licences to operate?
“The obvious answer is no,” he says. “This is quite a unique situation in our industry.”
Working for Sands and Wynn in Macau, Carruthers had to comply with regulators in Singapore, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Nevada. The operators were also both listed in Hong Kong.
“The multi-jurisdictional nature of the regulatory compliance is not a concern, the operational business is certainly not a concern. I ran the world’s largest and the world’s most luxurious. But certainly taking a business that has conditional licences, and making sure that we are found suitable, that is unique,” he says.
Over the years, Carruthers would have seen the rise and fall of Crown from the Macau strip.
It started with James Packer’s 2004 tie-up with Stanley Ho’s son, Lawrence – a brother, Packer called him – then the on-the-ground marketing to high rollers in China and using junket operators, all illegal.
Finally, there was the shock arrests of Crown staff in China.
“I won’t go back too much historically to what may or may not have happened in the past but certainly we are not in the junket business now,” says Carruthers. “We have no intention to get back in the junket business. We are an integrated resort very much focused on international tourism.”
Indeed Carruthers says the junket model has not been overly profitable for Crown. “If anything (it) was a surprise when I came into the business; it was the amount of effort that went into a particular business segment that didn’t drive a lot to the bottom line,” he says.
The incoming chief made a point of speaking with regulators on his first day. He says they are aware heavy lifting is still required but acknowledge that Crown is on the right path to redemption.
“We need to continue that very open and direct dialogue. All stakeholders wants this to succeed. We are the largest single site employer in Victoria and that is key to our success,” he says.
The new CEO has moved on-property and will spend the first 100 days of the job experiencing the Crown offering first hand in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.
“I’m told some people do actually get to work nine to five,” he says.
“But you don’t get a sense of what is happening at the coal face, in team dining, offices back of house, or what’s happening in the real engine room of the facility.”
Carruthers was tapped for the top job by Las Vegas all-star Bill McBeath, the man who made billions for Blackstone when he turned around The Cosmopolitan.
With a $US500bn ($736bn) capital investment from the private equity firm, all 3000 guest rooms and every inch of the main gaming floor had a makeover.
In June, the firm announced McBeath as the new chairman of Crown. In a small world of top casino players, Carruthers and McBeath have known each other for years. McBeath was asked to find “the new Bill” and reached out to Carruthers. Long conversations to ensure alignment on what to do with Crown ensued.
“I wanted to make sure that they would be in it for the long haul, they were committed to the kind of investment that I knew was going to be necessary,” says Carruthers.
Over the next four months Carruthers will be assessing customer demands and the opportunity for property uplift ahead of decisions to deploy capital – particularly in Melbourne.
“Melbourne needs a lot of love and attention to really bring it back up to par again. So where we spend that, how we spend that – that is what I’ll be working on,” Carruthers says.
Having met as many of the staff as he can in one day, including several who have worked for Crown for more than two decades, Carruthers has high hopes that plans for cultural transformation to underpin secure, safe and responsible service will take hold.
Last month, Crown announced Michael Volkert, head of casino operations at both the Venetian and the Palazzo in Las Vegas, as the new chief executive of Crown Melbourne. “This is his property to run. He and I are very aligned – that’s the reason I brought him in,” says Carruthers.
Next week, the CEO of Crown Sydney will be revealed – an integrated resorts veteran with strong experience at the luxury end.
Carruthers says it is a little early to decide how much of Crown’s income should come from casinos as opposed to hotels and entertainment but he stresses the company is not a casino, it is an integrated resort.
As to any financial targets imposed by Blackstone, Carruthers says the company’s new owner wants success but has not given specific direction.
“That’s not their role. I’ll continue to work for the board as I get a better understanding of the business,” he says.
“My primary focus, only focus right now, is on remediation, transformation work and a huge part of that is the cultural change.”
Billed as a people person, Carruthers is more Australian than on first appearance. He is a permanent resident and his family grew up in Adelaide.
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