Aussie billionaire James Packer has stepped down as director of Crown Resorts, which owns casinos around Australia, citing mental health reasons.
Crown announced his unexpected departure in a brief statement to the Australian Securities Exchange on Wednesday, saying that Packer had personal reasons for resigning. “We have appreciated James’ contribution to the board and respect his decision to step down from his role as director at this time,” Crown’s executive chairman John Alexander said.
But a spokesman for Packer’s private investment company Consolidated Press Holdings told news outlets that Packer was taking a step back from all commitments to focus on his mental health. “Mr Packer is suffering from mental health issues,” the spokesman said.
In October last year, the 50-year-old son of late Australian tycoon Kerry Packer spoke out about his financial and family troubles, as well as his failed relationship with pop diva Mariah Carey, in a very frank interview with The Weekend Australian Magazine.
“Two years ago I was terrified. I had $2.3 billion of debt at CPH [Consolidated Press Holdings, his private company], over $3 billion of debt at Crown, I’d just appointed Rob [Rankin as chairman of Crown], Macau was falling over and [sister] Gretel was on my doorstep,” Packer said to The Australian‘s Damon Kitney. “Then a year later I’ve got China falling apart, the Australian casino businesses missing budgets by big amounts, I’ve got Mariah breaking up with me and I’m thinking ‘f…’.”
It’s been a tough few years for Packer, who split up with his wife Erica Baxter in 2013, then became embroiled in a multi-year battle with his sister Gretel in 2015 over the division of the family business empire. Then in 2016 some Crown staff were detained in China for allegedly breaching the country’s gaming regulations, and Crown’s Asian resorts suffered during the downturn that hurt the region’s entire gambling sector.
Things didn’t improve in 2017, when Packer’s relationship with Carey, and their acrimonious split, attracted media attention around the world, and the wealthy businessman went from dramatically slimmer, reportedly after lap band surgery, to much heavier – all of which was played out in front of tabloid cameras.
But Packer remains ranked among the top 10 wealthiest people in the country, with a net worth estimated at $3.9 billion.
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