Executive Summary: January 25, 2009
By Scott Rochfort | smh.com.au | 25 January
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While CBD was away … one of the former Babcock & Brown satellites continued to have problems detaching itself from its one-time parent.
Prime Infrastructure (previously known as B&B Infrastructure) put out an ASX announcement early this month in which it reverted to giving its old internet address and the phone number for the Babcock & Brown switch. Fortunately, the old number gave a forwarding phone number for Prime Infrastructure. A call to the new number elicited a greeting from BBI.
Meanwhile, Storm Financial's website, stormfinancial.com.au, has been taken over by a ''finance and home loan'' provider based in Malaysia but with a British home web address.
The curse of the ex-Liberal leader also struck while CBD was on leave when the Lane Cove Tunnel operator, Connector Motorways, went into receivership.
John Fahey, a former NSW Liberal premier and anti-doping tsar, joined the growing list of former conservative leaders to have once chaired failed companies (Andrew ''MFS'' Peacock, John ''Elderslie'' Hewson, Rob ''Asset Loans'' Borbidge). Connector Motorways was put into receivership by the guarantor of its $1.16 billion of bonds.
BUFFED BOLTON
The corporate pretty boy Nicholas Bolton has caught the eye of single women after being included on a shortlist of eligible bachelors by Cleo magazine.
The blurb on Bolton noted how the former BrisConnections unitholder was one of the youngest to ever make the front page of The Australian Financial Review, and one of the few to have appeared topless in a business section of a paper.
No doubt the $4.5 million Bolton pocketed when he lent his voting rights to the builder of the BrisConnections toll road, Leighton (ahead of a meeting he called last year to wind up the company), has made him more of a hunk in the eyes of some women. He has also gained attention for introducing the scarf as alternative neckwear in corporate Australia.
Also on the list of 500 eligible bachelors - to be cut down to 50 in March - are the chief executive of the software outfit Atlassian, Mike Cannon-Brookes, Wyse Wealth Financial Planning's Justin Camden, Tower Insurance business manager Keiran McKinnon, MCM Media business manager Aaron Pearce, Damien Rivkin (son of Rene) and the Seven Network executive Ryan Stokes.
GLOBAL NOMADS
Belonging to a golf club or exclusive drinking den no longer seems to be enough to give some corporate types a sense of belonging.
Bob Jeffrey, the head of the New York-headquartered ad agency JWT, has announced his firm has been invited to join the nomadic Samburu tribe of the Sereolipi region of Kenya. ''This is not an empty gesture offered lightly. We have the honour of having the chance to become the first Samburu tribe members living outside of the Sereolipi,'' said Jeffrey. JWT has invited people on its contact list to join the tribe and make a donation via the Global Samburu website.
''In these times of communication without borders, we all belong to vast tribes connected by spreadsheets, corporate reports and business cards. But we believe that the best tribes are connected via ideas, ethics and purpose,'' explained Jeffrey.
Meanwhile, over the holiday break, JWT released its list of 100 things to look out for in 2010. They included: brighter colours, coconut water, pandemic fatalism, buycotting, silent dance parties, exotic berry flavours, augmented reality, paying for online content, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and urban fruit gleaning.
SNOW WORKERS
One sign that the Australian economy was continuing to fare better than others during the holiday break appeared on the ski fields of Aspen, Colorado. ''The Aussies are back in Aspen,'' declared the ski town's local rag. The Aspen Times remarked that ''it might help to speak Australian'' if on the slopes this season. The Sydney corporate undertaker Ian Purchas explained to the paper the reason for the sudden influx from Australia. "People feel more confident about the economy,'' he said. It is unclear if these confident people included the former boss of the collapsed Allco Finance Group David Coe who made his annual pilgrimage to Aspen.
Other sightings included Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch, Kerry Packer's former poker partner, Ben Tilley, and Paul Hogan's choir-member lawyer, Francois Kunc.
Purchas, who helped host his 11th Australian Accountants & Lawyers Conference on the ski fields with his wife and former Olympian, Jane Fleming, stressed the event was not just an excuse to claim a tax deduction. ''I know a lot of people look at these things and [think] that it's a junket. But I've been very careful after running it for 11 years [to make sure] that it's not a junket.''
He noted each of the talks at the five-day conference were, on average, attended by 85 per cent of the 95 delegates. CBD noted, however, that there were six-hour breaks between some of those talks.
Delegates were able to clock up professional development points for their respective associations by attending the seminars.
WHERE'S SOL?
The former Telstra chief and ex-member of the McGauchie tribe Sol Trujillo has been given the chance to again showcase his ''experience as a pioneering network operator and innovator'' after joining the board of a Utah-based TV internet provider, Move Networks. Showing he has not lost his skill for lengthy management spiels, Trujillo explained: ''Move has developed a compelling business model that will deliver enhanced distribution opportunities for content providers and provide communications and media companies with an innovative TV platform to give their customers access to live, archived and time-shifted TV.''
Sol also sits on the board of the US retailer Target.
First published by Smh.com.au on January 25 2010
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