Pinned straw:
So Phil Britt is stepping down as Group CEO and he's not wasting any time in doing it as he's finishing on 28 Feb. This was a bit of a fear - I'm going to say 18 months ago - when Phil returned from prolonged leave and acknowledged that he had been considering his future. Although he recommitted at the time, I can speak from personal experience that once you start considering that there might be someplace else you want to be, it's very hard to stay focused on where you are.
Had he resigned back then I don't think the market would have reacted to the announcement as benignly as it appears to so far today. That probably reflects the fact the market wasn't that surprised at the announcement. Also, Phil will stay on as a NED, with a special advisor role contracted for the next two years. It also helps that his natural successor, Aussie-brand CEO and ex-CFO, will take over the top job. I'm not a huge lover of seeing CFO's take over the top job, but that's probably my internal prejudice. To be honest, if they'd just done it and not announced it I'm not sure anyone would have noticed, as the two of them could have been separated at birth.
Also, Phil probably lost some bark in the whole failed Superloop deal thing, and also the loss of Origin as a white label customer. He may have lost a bit of his halo from those stumbles and so perhaps the market wasn't as sorry to see him depart as they once would have been.
According to the release he will be instead pursuing a community-focused venture in Gippsland, where he was born and Aussie still operates from today.
@Noddy74 - I have pretty much the same thoughts. Been waiting for this change ever since he shared that he considered leaving when he took some extended leave to go attend a Scout Jamboree in Korea. The venture referred to in the announcement gives further evidence in support of what we've seen before - this is someone who is values driven and wants to acheve more in his life that the success he has already achieved in business.
I also agree that the $SLC and $ORG deals made it clear that not everything he touches turns to gold. Still, his legacy is to have built a customer-focused business that is a disrupter in an industry with a lumbering incumbent that is having to navigate product and technology shifts. Hopefully the strategy, cutlure, and operating model is not sufficiently well-established that a profressional manager can take this forward.
While I have made one very successful trade on $ABB, and having considered trying that again when shares got down to around $3,50, this one hasn't sufficiently made it back onto my conviction list, and remains on my watch.
Disc: Not held
He's a techie and a builder.
He loves to press the virtual flesh. This time 8 years ago he was responding directly to forum posts on Whirlpool when customers had difficulties.
The business is growing into a Macquarie telecom with a retail arm which is not his heritage. I suspect that what ABB has transformed into is not what he loves to do.
He was issued further options in addition to this and remains a significant shareholder so I remain confident.