David Tsai: Group Chief Executive Officer, Crown Resorts

David Tsai is Group Chief Executive Officer of Crown Resorts, and he’s held the top job since October 2024. He got there from inside the business, after running Crown Perth through its post-Royal Commission clean-up. That puts him among the Australian gambling executives running a business still under close regulatory watch.

Crown runs three integrated resorts in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. An integrated resort bundles a casino with hotels, restaurants, theatres and convention space under one roof. Tsai learned that model in the US, where he spent 15 years at MGM Resorts International.

His timing is what makes the appointment worth a closer look. Regulators had already cleared Crown Melbourne and Crown Sydney before he took charge, but Perth was still waiting. Crown also hadn’t posted a net profit since Financial Year 2020 (FY20).

David Tsai’s Career Timeline at Crown Resorts and MGM

David Tsai went from running one Crown casino to running the whole group in under two years.

• October 2022 – Crown Resorts named him CEO of Crown Perth, subject to regulatory approval. His brief was to lead the Perth remediation plan alongside newly appointed Independent Monitor Paul Steel.
• December 2022 – Started as CEO of Crown Perth.
• 1 August 2024 – Promoted to President and Group Chief Operating Officer, moving from Perth into a group-wide role.
• 1 September 2024 – Became Acting CEO of Crown Resorts. Staff had been told days earlier that CEO Ciarán Carruthers was leaving.
• 31 October 2024 – The board, led by chair John Borghetti, named him permanent CEO, subject to regulatory approvals.
• 29 October 2025 – Crown reported a FY25 net profit after tax of A$142 million, its first net profit since FY20. In FY24, it had lost A$164.8 million.
• February 2026 – Crown and Blackstone announced a A$200 million redevelopment of Crown Melbourne. The plan adds 15 new restaurants and bars and revamps the riverside Riverwalk precinct.
• 16 September 2026 – At the IAG Academy Summit in Manila, Tsai confirmed Crown had restarted international marketing. Singapore and Malaysia lead that push, while Japan and Vietnam are under review.

Before Crown, Tsai spent 15 years at MGM Resorts International. His last MGM role was President of the Midwest Group. He ran MGM Grand Detroit in Michigan and MGM Northfield Park in Ohio at the same time.

He was also President and Chief Operating Officer of MGM’s Gold Strike Casino Resort in Tunica, Mississippi. Tsai also spent four years as Senior Vice President and CFO of Las Vegas’s Monte Carlo Resort and Casino. There, he helped lead its US$550 million rebuild into Park MGM and NoMad Las Vegas.

Earlier in his career, Tsai worked at McKinsey & Company. He also held senior strategy and finance roles before moving into casino operations.

Why David Tsai’s Appointment Matters

David Tsai’s promotion broke a run of short tenures and outside hires at the top of Crown.

• Ken Barton stepped down as CEO on 15 February 2021. An inquiry for the NSW gaming regulator had just found Crown unsuitable to run its new Sydney casino.
• Steve McCann joined from Lendlease in June 2021. He left about 13 months later, shortly after Blackstone’s takeover.
• Ciarán Carruthers, a former Wynn Macau COO, took over in September 2022. He announced his exit on 26 August 2024, roughly two years in.
• David Tsai is the only one of the three post-Barton CEOs promoted from within. He’s now been in the job about as long as Carruthers was.

Tsai didn’t inherit the hardest regulatory calls, though. Victoria and NSW had both found Crown suitable by April 2024, months before he became Acting CEO. Perth, the property he’d run himself, was the one still outstanding.

So his job became commercial as much as regulatory. Crown cut about 1,000 jobs in 2024, and it has since returned to profit and started spending again.

The next thing to watch is international play. Junkets, middlemen who bring high-rolling gamblers to a casino for a fee, sat at the centre of Crown’s original failures. That’s why any international comeback will get close attention from regulators.

Regulatory Context Facing David Tsai

David Tsai answers to three state casino regulators, a federal financial crimes watchdog and a private equity owner. Casino licensing sits with the states under Australian gambling laws, so each Crown resort has its own regulator.

• June 2022 – Blackstone completed its A$8.9 billion takeover of Crown Resorts. In its announcement, Blackstone called it the firm’s largest deal to date in Asia Pacific.
• October 2022 – An Independent Monitor, former WA Police assistant commissioner Paul Steel, began overseeing Crown Perth’s remediation. The role followed the Perth Casino Royal Commission, which found Crown Perth unsuitable in March 2022.
• 11 July 2023 – The Federal Court ordered Crown to pay a A$450 million penalty in AUSTRAC’s anti-money laundering case. Crown Melbourne’s share was A$300 million and Crown Perth’s was A$150 million. The order came seven months into Tsai’s time running Perth.
• 26 March 2024 – Victoria’s Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) found Crown Melbourne suitable to keep its licence. That ended two years under a Special Manager, a government-appointed overseer with most of a director’s powers.
• 23 April 2024 – The NSW Independent Casino Commission found Crown Sydney suitable to keep its licence. A new licence and regulatory agreement came with the decision.
• October 2024 – The VGCCC fined Crown Melbourne A$2 million. Some 242 self-excluded people had gambled there in the eight months to May 2024. Crown also had to hire an independent expert to review its exclusion program.
• 8 July 2025 – WA Racing and Gaming Minister Paul Papalia found Crown Perth suitable, with no conditions or penalties. Steel joined WA’s Gaming and Wagering Commission from 1 August 2025 to keep watching the casino.
• FY25 – Crown paid the final instalment of its AUSTRAC penalty, according to its FY25 results.
• 24 November 2025 – The VGCCC fined Crown Melbourne A$100,000. An excluded person had gambled there for 14 hours and 40 minutes on 31 October 2024. That was the same day Crown named Tsai permanent CEO.

As of October 2026, we found no open suitability case against any Crown licence. Still, the VGCCC keeps fining Crown over exclusion lapses, so day-to-day compliance remains a live risk. Crown has also been rolling out mandatory carded play, where every gaming session is tied to an identified player card.

Frequently Asked Questions About David Tsai

Who is David Tsai, Group CEO of Crown Resorts?

David Tsai is Group Chief Executive Officer of Crown Resorts, which runs integrated resorts in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. He has led the company since October 2024. Before that, he ran Crown Perth and served as President and Group COO. He spent 15 years at MGM Resorts International before joining Crown in December 2022.

How did David Tsai become CEO of Crown Resorts?

He was promoted from within. Tsai joined as Crown Perth CEO in December 2022 and became President and Group COO on 1 August 2024. After Ciarán Carruthers announced his exit, Tsai became Acting CEO on 1 September 2024. Crown’s board named him permanent CEO on 31 October 2024, subject to regulatory approvals.

Who owns Crown Resorts under David Tsai?

Blackstone owns Crown Resorts. The US private equity firm completed its A$8.9 billion takeover in June 2022. Blackstone called it its largest deal to date in Asia Pacific. Since then, Blackstone and Crown have backed a A$200 million redevelopment of Crown Melbourne, announced in February 2026.

What was David Tsai’s career before Crown Resorts?

Tsai spent 15 years at MGM Resorts International. He was CFO of the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino during its US$550 million rebuild into Park MGM. He also ran Gold Strike in Mississippi, and finally MGM’s Midwest Group. That role covered MGM Grand Detroit and MGM Northfield Park. Earlier, he worked at McKinsey & Company.

Is Crown Perth still under an independent monitor?

No. WA Racing and Gaming Minister Paul Papalia found Crown Perth suitable on 8 July 2025, with no conditions or penalties. That ended the independent monitoring set up after the Perth Casino Royal Commission. Former monitor Paul Steel joined WA’s Gaming and Wagering Commission from 1 August 2025. He keeps overseeing the casino from inside the regulator.

Gambling Executive Sources

Career timeline

• Crown Resorts Appoints Crown Perth CEO – Crown Resorts media release
• Crown Resorts Appoints Mr David Tsai as CEO – Crown Resorts media release
• Crown dipping its toe back into international waters – Inside Asian Gaming

Why this appointment matters

• Crown Resorts boss Ciaran Carruthers in surprise departure – The Nightly

Regulatory context

• Crown Resorts reports FY25 net profit, first in five years – Inside Asian Gaming