Casino CEO Mullin
Steps Down
Larry Mullin will step down as chief executive of casino operator Echo Entertainment in late January. He joined four years ago from Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City where he was CEO.
Echo said he will stay to oversee completion of the $900 million upgrade of The Star casino in Sydney.
A global search for a replacement has begun. Chairman John O’Neill said that the board “agreed we were entering a new phase that will focus on operations, consistency and profitable growth and agreed if there was to be a change of leadership, this was the time.”
Mullin is the latest high-profile name to exit as Australian billionaire and rival casino operator James Packer circles around Echo. Packer wants to increase his 10 percent stake in Echo, which also operates three casinos in Queensland, to 25 percent.
He is lobbying for half of Star’s exclusive casino license in New South Wales (which Echo has until November 2019) to build a $1 billion gaming and hotel complex in Sydney.
Non-executive Echo director Brett Paton resigned the same week as Mullin, following the ousting of chairman John Story in June because of his stance against Packer.
It has not been a good year for Echo.
A sexual harassment scandal involving former general manager Sid Vaikunta led to a public inquiry. The collapse of its marketing partner led to a loss of $30 million.
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