Nine shake-up as chair Catherine West steps down

Catherine West has resigned as Nine Entertainment chair less than 18 months into the role, marking the final step of a company-wide reset of its culture and management structure.

West, who will step down at Nine’s annual general meeting in November, will be replaced by former deputy chair of the ABC and News Corp chief executive Peter Tonagh, who joined the Nine board in January and was widely viewed as a likely successor to West.

West will also step down as non-executive director at Nine after the November meeting, marking the end of her time on the ASX-listed media company’s board.

West has served on the Nine board since 2016, having returned to Australia after a lengthy stint at then-News Corp owned Sky. Her departure comes as some Nine investors had questioned how long she could stay on as chair, with concerns raised over her independence having spent a decade on the company’s board.

Almost 17 per cent of total investors in Nine voted against West’s re-election at last year’s annual general meeting and, on Wednesday, Australia’s Future Fund revealed it had opposed West’s continued tenure as Nine’s chair.

West was appointed chair in June last year following the surprise resignation of long-time chair Peter Costello, who stepped down after an altercation with a journalist from The Australian at Canberra Airport.

Costello had been chair of Nine for eight years, and on its board for 11, with internal figures, and investors having begun raising concerns over his independence as chair, having spent so long as a director.

Since taking over from Costello, West led Nine’s culture review, appointed a new chief executive in Matt Stanton and oversaw the sale of Domain.

West said on Thursday that she was “proud to have successfully led the company through a transformational period”, finding that a refreshed executive team and operating model had positioned the company for “growth and the creation of shareholder value”.

Tonagh, a respected veteran of the media industry in Australia joined Nine just weeks after resigning as deputy chair of the ABC in December. He is chair of data, AI and analytics firm Quantium, and has been chief executive of News Corp, Foxtel and interim boss of News Corp-owned property portal REA Group.

“On behalf of the board, I thank Catherine for her leadership, guidance and commitment to Nine, which have been instrumental in positioning the company for sustainable success,” Tonagh said.

“I will be working closely with the board and management to drive value for all shareholders over the long term.”

In a message to Nine employees, Stanton described West as a “dedicated and passionate advocate” who helped to accelerate “our cultural and strategic transformation”.

“It goes without saying that all of us at Nine wish Catherine all the best for the future and thank her for her time on the board,” Stanton wrote.

Stanton was pleased Nine could have a smooth chair transition, unlike last time which was “not so smooth”, he said in a staff update on Thursday morning.

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