Disarray in Star Entertainment Ranks Continues with Chairman’s Departure

Facing regulatory action in the Down Under, Star Entertainment has confirmed that another high-ranking executive in the face of chairman David Foster has stepped down after less than a year on the job.

Another One Bids Adieu to Star Entertainment in Time of Need

He adds to the droves of executives who have exited Star Entertainment amid intensifying scrutiny from the country’s gambling regulator, with chief finance officer Christina Katsibouba and chief executive officer Robbie Cooke both turning their resignations in March.

Foster, though, is not immediately exiting the company and will continue to carry out his duties in a temporary capacity. He wants to make the transition towards a new chief executive officer smoother, as Star Entertainment is still on the lookout for its own top person.

However, Foster will only help with the executive responsibilities he took on when he became a chair, and he will be replaced in the chair position by Anne Ward, an independent non-executive director, whose appointment into the new position comes with immediate effect.

Star Entertainment has come under heavy fire from regulators and has been found unfit to hold a license in Sydney in October 2022, as the regulator found the company to have not met all necessary prerequisites to continue operating the property. A second inquiry is now underway, with the heat on Star Entertainment unlikely to let up any time soon.

Star has been waddling through more problems still, especially in light of new previously unseen text messages that showed insiders at the company pushing for the removal of Star Sydney’s special manager, Nicholas Weeks, and the NSW regulator.

The Clouds Gather for Star Entertainment and Executives

That was the event which prompted Cooke’s decision to step down in a formal acceptance of mea culpa. Cooke though has already said that the rapport that Star and the regulator had was a fraught one, and it often felt like a “one-way street.”

“But it was a difficult position for the company because we were taking a contrary position to the manager and some of his views of the company,” Cooke said. The former executive further noted that the messages had come out of context, and they only represented a single exchange between Star insiders, and not the company’s official position. Yet doubt has settled on the regulator’s mind.

The ongoing saga with the second trial is adding insult to injury, and the exodus of C-level executives is undermining the company’s ability to save face at a particularly challenging period of its operations.