Australia’s Crown Resorts has announced a raft of key leadership appointments, including the promotion of former Crown Perth CEO David Tsai to the role of President and Group Chief Operating Officer. The company has also named veteran Las Vegas casino executive Stanford Le as the new CEO of Crown Sydney following the retirement of Mark McWhinnie.
Tsai will step into his new group role from 1 August 2024 and will be responsible for ensuring operational effectiveness and efficiency and the highest standards of guest experience across Crown’s Australian resorts, the company explained. He will continue to report to Group CEO Ciarán Carruthers.
Brian Pereira, currently CFO of Crown Perth, will become interim CEO at the Western Australia property while a global search is conducted.
Le, who will commence his role overseeing Crown Sydney on 12 August, joins the company from Snoqualmie Casino in Seattle where he is currently President and CEO. His former roles include senior marketing positions with Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands and Caesars.
Other appointments include long-time ExxonMobil executive Gemma Allman as Chief Government Relations Officer, Nicole Pelchen as Chief Technology Officer and Louise Tebbutt as Chief People & Culture Officer.
“I am delighted to announce David’s expanded role as President & Group Chief Operating Officer and to welcome four new veterans in their respective industries – who bring global perspectives and experiences – to Crown Resorts,” said Carruthers.
“Stanford, Gemma, Louise and Nicole will be terrific additions to the team at an important time of transformation for the business.”
“I would like to thank Mark McWhinnie for his significant efforts leading our extensive reform and remediation program in Sydney over the past three years, which culminated in the regulator finding Crown suitable to operate in NSW. Mark’s leadership has been instrumental in evolving our business and we look forward to continuing that focus under Stanford as the new Crown Sydney CEO.”
As reported by Inside Asian Gaming, Crown recently won back its casino licenses for both Crown Melbourne and Crown Sydney after being found to have returned to suitability by the respective state regulators.
