Ted Chan Ying Tat is replacing Bob Drake as the chief financial officer at Macau-based casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd, the firm announced on Monday. The change is effective from March 1.
According to the release, Mr Drake was leaving to pursue “personal interests”. He would remained linked to Galaxy Entertainment as “senior advisor”.
Mr Chan (pictured in a file photo) joined Galaxy Entertainment in 2018 as chief operating officer of its “Japan development team” .
Prior to that, he was a senior executive of Galaxy Entertainment’s Macau market rival Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd. Mr Chan resigned from what was then Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd in November 2016, for what the firm said were “personal reasons”.
He had been appointed Melco Crown’s chief operating officer in February 2012. He joined the firm in November 2008, after having been recruited from a unit of the Amax brand, which had provided VIP gambling services to the Altira Macau casino resort in Taipa.
Francis Lui Yiu Tung, deputy chairman of Galaxy Entertainment, said in a statement in Monday’s release that Mr Chan’s “unique combination” of a “wealth of local integrated resort knowledge combined with his over two decades of management experience and familiarity with Galaxy Entertainment”, made him “ideally suited for the role” of CFO.
Mr Chan “will work closely” with Mr Drake over the “ensuing months to ensure a smooth and seamless transition”, said Galaxy Entertainment’s release.
The firm’s Mr Lui stated regarding Mr Drake: “During his tenure Bob contributed to a number of significant milestones including: navigating the company through the global financial crises and the Covid-19 pandemic, inclusion of Galaxy Entertainment as a constituent of the Hang Seng Index, opening Galaxy Macau Phases 1 and 2 and Broadway Macau, and, most recently, the successful issuance of Galaxy Entertainment’s new Macau gaming concession and preparation of the forthcoming opening of our Cotai Phase 3 development.”
Mr. Drake was appointed CFO of Galaxy Entertainment in 2008. Prior to that, he had held senior executive positions in finance roles with gaming companies in Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States.
