Harold Mitchell resigns from Crown Resorts board

Until Monday, Mr Mitchell had privately vowed it was only Crown’s investors who could remove him as a director.

Melbourne business identity Harold Mitchell. Pic Stefan Postles

Former advertising magnate Harold Mitchell has resigned from the board of the James Packer-backed Crown Resorts with immediate effect, becoming the fourth director to step down in the wake of the damning findings of the Bergin inquiry, which recommended Crown was unsuitable to retain its Sydney casino licence.

The Australian understands Mr Mitchell tendered his resignation to new Crown executive chairman Helen Coonan on Monday afternoon, keen to ensure speculation over his future on the board did not become an ongoing distraction for the company.

Mr Mitchell was head of Crown’s remuneration committee and was working with search firm Korn Ferry to find new directors. His departure follows the resignations in the past fortnight of Andrew Demetriou, Guy Jalland and Michael Johnston from the board.

Another director, the late Kerry Packer’s doctor John Horvath, has also announced plans to leave the Crown board.

Until Monday Mr Mitchell had privately vowed it was only Crown’s investors who could remove him as a director and was eyeing the October annual meeting for a more graceful departure.

Crown’s biggest institutional shareholders Perpetual and Investors Mutual had last week urged him to resign from the board of the embattled gaming company.

The Bergin report recommended Mr Mitchell, who has been on the Crown board for over a decade, step down if a civil penalty or declaration was made against him in relation to the “minor breaches” he was found to have made as director of Tennis Australia.

The Victorian Commision for Gaming and Liquor Regulation Catherine Myers is also conducting an investigation into Mr Mitchell, who had been asked to explain how he was a suitable person to be an associate of Crown Melbourne.

In his letter to Ms Coonan, Mr Mitchell said his motivation and focus had always been on the staff and shareholders of the company.

“It is now two weeks since the Honourable Patricia Bergin SC provided her findings. Those findings included that replacing the entire Crown board at this time is not appropriate, particularly having regard to balancing the commercial imperative of the on-going viability of a public company. I am also conscious that many of the senior executives and four directors have left in the past few weeks. Indeed, only you and I remain as the only two long-standing directors, having been on the board since 2011. No other remaining director has served prior to 2018,’’ Mr Mitchell wrote.

“However, I am concerned that the issue of whether I remain a director has become a distraction. Press and commentator speculation has been made about what weight to give the findings of Justice Beach in the ASIC case but he concluded that I was always motivated to act in the best interests of Tennis Australia when I was a director.”

Mr Mitchell stressed the Bergin Inquiry made no adverse findings about his integrity and said he had given his evidence honestly and attempted to assist the Inquiry.

“However it seems my continuing directorship of Crown has become an obstacle to proceeding with what needs to be done.

I have been clear in the past that I would not be prepared to serve another term and I hereby tender my resignation, effective immediately, to hasten the assembly of a new leadership team to solely focus on the business of Crown Resorts and their 20,000 staff .”