Crown Sydney CEO Simon McGrath departs amid Blackstone reshuffle

After choosing the luckiest day on the Chinese calendar to open the gaming floor of the $2.2bn Barangaroo casino, Crown Sydney boss Simon McGrath is leaving the company.

Simon McGrath has resigned as Crown Sydney’s chief executive weeks after opening the $2.2bn casino’s gaming floor and less than eight months in the role.

Mr McGrath is the latest executive to leave Crown after private equity group Blackstone finalised its $8.9bn takeover of the company in June.

He will leave his role at the end of September after he oversaw the opening of Crown Sydney’s gaming floor earlier this month – on one of the most luckiest days of the Chinese calendar, the eighth of the eighth. “We can confirm that Crown Sydney CEO and Group Head of Hospitality Simon McGrath will be finishing up with the business at the end of September,” a spokeswoman said.

“Simon has made an important contribution to Crown Sydney during his time as CEO, including overseeing the successful opening of Australia’s only VIP members-only casino and we wish him all the best for the future. Simon has applied his wealth of industry knowledge in refreshing the Group-wide approach to hospitality, quality control and yield management.”

Mr McGrath joined Crown in February and also assumed the role of group head of hospitality.

While he came to the company with an impressive CV as an international hotelier, Blackstone is searching for a replacement who has deeper gaming experience.

Blackstone has already installed former Wynn and Sands executive Ciaran Carruthers to replace Steve McCann as chief executive and former Las Vegas Cosmopolitan chief executive Bill McBeath as chairman as it completes an extensive reformation to regain its suitability to hold a casino licence in three states.

Mr McGrath has more than three decades experience across the Pacific region, serving as chief executive of Accor Pacific before he joined Crown, overseeing 397 hotels and 18,000 employees.

He previously held executive positions at Southern Pacific Hotels and Rydges Hotel Group.

Mr McGrath was also recognised for his contribution to the hospitality industry with numerous awards, including inclusion in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List as a Member of the Order of Australia for his significant work in the promotion of Australian tourism internationally.

Mr McGrath told The Australian earlier this month that Crown Barangaroo had already “exceeded expectations” in attracting VIP gamblers. Unlike other Sydney gaming venues, it will not have a poker machine in sight.