The Australian entertainment conglomerate, Star Entertainment Group, has declared that Robbie Cooke will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director on October 17th.
Cooke will assume the leadership position next week, becoming the fourth individual to occupy the CEO position at Star Entertainment this year.
Cooke’s most recent role was as Chief Executive Officer of Tyro Payments. However, he is more widely recognized for his tenure as Managing Director and Group CEO of the lottery enterprise, Tatts Group, from 2013 to 2018. He departed shortly after the group was acquired by Tabcorp.
Last month, Jeff Hogg stepped down from his position as acting CEO after less than four months in the role. He had assumed the position on an interim basis in June.
Matt Bekier resigned from his positions as CEO and Managing Director in late March following disclosures of issues in a New South Wales investigation into Star Entertainment Group’s operations. John O’Neill, who succeeded Bekier, also departed after less than two months as Executive Chairman.
Hoggs exit as acting CEO coincides with Ben Heap’s appointment as interim chairman of the company. Heap will now relinquish this position, along with all other roles at Star.
When Cooke assumes the CEO position permanently, executive chairman Ben Heap will revert to a non-executive position within the company.
This appointment marks the latest development in a challenging year for Star. Earlier this month, the company was deemed unfit to possess a license in Queensland following an investigation into their operations in the state.
The review, which was announced in June, delved into numerous issues and uncovered a series of systematic problems.
The findings mirror those uncovered in Adam Bell SC’s report on Star’s activities in New South Wales, which also concluded that the operator was unfit to hold a license in that state.
