Billionaire businessman James Packer has announced he’s stepping down as the director of his company Crown Resorts, citing “personal reasons.”
The news was confirmed on Wednesday morning via a short statement.
“We have appreciated James’ contribution to the Board and respect his decision to step down from his role as a director at this time,” Crown Resorts boss John Alexander said.
While a spokesperson for the 50-year-old’s private investment company Consolidated Press Holdings also released a statement, which read: “Mr Packer is suffering from mental health issues. At this time he intends to step back from all commitments.”
According the the Herald Sun, Packer is currently in America while he focuses on his health.
The businessman, whose late father was media mogul Kerry Packer, has previously opened up about his battle with depression.
“My marriage [to Jodhi Meares] had broken up. I felt like a failure. When I was at my lowest Tom Cruise reached out to me. He believed in me when other people didn’t,” he revealed in a 2013 interview with Sunday Night.
50-year-old James Packer is stepping down as the director of Crown Resorts.
James’ shock resignation comes amid a disastrous run for the father-of-three.
Most recently, he was caught up in a corruption scandal with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In October 2016, Packer called off his whirlwind engagement to pop superstar Mariah Carey.
James Packer was briefly engaged to Mariah Carey in 2016.
In October last year, the casino heavyweight spoke to the The Weekend Australian about what went wrong.
James said that he was in billions of dollars worth of debt when he met the hitmaker after borrowing big in the hopes of providing his sister Gretel with some of the money left in their father Kerry Packer’s estate. He was also losing money on a separate Hollywood venture.
“I was at a low point in my personal life,” he said.
“Documenting the negotiations with my sister was taking longer than expected. Brett Ratner put Mariah and me together. She was kind, exciting and fun. Mariah is a woman of substance. She is very bright.”
He added: “But it was a mistake for her and a mistake for me.”
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