The photos and a video have gone viral, and now police in Sydney are investigating the brawl between James Packer and television executive and longtime friend David Gyngell that erupted outside the casino tycoon’s Bondi Beach apartment on Sunday.
The fight left the billionaire executive chairman of Crown Resorts with a black eye and a reputation whose bruises may prove far worse as Crown and its various high-profile joint ventures pursue billions in casino investments around the globe.
Police on Wednesday confirmed they had launched an investigation even though the former schoolmates have issued a statement saying they remained friends despite their “ups and downs”.
The Commission for Gambling and Liquor regulation in Melbourne, home of Crown’s flagship Crown Melbourne casino, is watching the police investigation, a spokesman said. But he said it was “a bit speculative” to say whether the incident would have an impact on the company’s license there.
“We are waiting to see what happens,” he said.
Crown has declined comment, according to news reports.
In Sydney, where Crown wants to build a luxury casino on Darling Harbour, the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority said it had no comment.
Crown Sydney, as it’s called, pegged at A$1.3 billion, has won initial approval from the government of New South Wales pending a finding of suitability from the ILGA, which is tasked, among other things, with determining whether Mr Packer is a “suitable person,” including whether he is “of good repute, having regard to character, honesty and integrity”.
Crown is also bidding for a $1 billion-plus casino in the Queensland capital of Brisbane and plans to expand in Sri Lanka and Japan if authorizing legislation is approved in those countries. Crown also is reported to be interested in purchasing The Cosmopolitan on the Las Vegas Strip.
In Sri Lanka, the company is approved for a $400 million resort hotel in the capital of Colombo but without a casino, and the government there, bowing to religious and political opposition, said approval for one will not be forthcoming.
Crown’s Macau joint venture, Melco Crown Entertainment, is slated to open a megaresort in Manila later this year in partnership with major Philippine interests and is talking to prospective partners in Japan on the possibility of developing a US$5 billion megaresort in Tokyo.
Stephen Mayne, a spokesman for the Australian Shareholders’ Association, said of Mr Packer, “He’s one of the three biggest casino moguls in the world, and the biggest risk management question for casino licensees is probity, and being seen to be a fit and proper person. … So clearly being involved in a violent street brawl is potentially problematic in terms of ongoing and future casino licensing,”
Mr Gyngell, chief executive of Australia’s Nine Entertainment Group, was photographed outside the apartment looking “disheveled and barefooted,” according to news reports, as he and Mr Packer wrestled and traded blows. One image shows Mr Packer, wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, being restrained from throwing a punch at Mr Gyngell and treading on his foot.
It’s not known what caused the altercation, although the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the friendship had soured after Mr Packer separated from his second wife last year.
