September 26, 2022 | By Bronwen Largier
Major executive changes in Australia’s casino industry are continuing with Geoff Hogg, The Star Entertainment Group’s acting CEO, resigning from the business less than four months after taking on the role.
The announcement of Hogg’s impending departure is the latest in a string of resignations for The Star this year, with the group’s previous managing director and CEO, Matt Bekier, resigning in late March and John O’Neill AO, who became executive chairman on April 1 in the wake of Bekier’s departure, resigning in May.
The Star’s new managing director and CEO, Robbie Cooke, was announced at the end of June, but the outgoing chief of payments solution Tyro, has yet to step into his role in the casino business.
Hogg’s resignation comes the day before The Star’s deadline to respond to the “show cause” notice issued by the NSW Independent Casino Commission, which asks the business to demonstrate why it should not be subject to disciplinary action, after The Star was found unfit to hold a gaming licence in NSW earlier this month by a major review of its operations.
The Star’s main casino competitor in Australia, Crown Resorts, has also seen its fair share of executive departures this year, with CEO of Crown Resorts and Crown Melbourne, Steve McCann, and CEO of Crown Sydney, Simon McGrath, both exiting the business this year following Blackstone’s acquisition of the company in June. Crown has a new overarching CEO in Ciarán Carruthers, who started this month, but CEOs of both Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth have yet to be announced.
