Surfstitch investors were calling for accountability at its recent AGM after suffering one of the worst IPO wipe outs of the decade – and boy have they got it with all but two of the current board members to depart by year end.
None of the board members who signed off on last year's acquisition binge, which has since been written off, survived the blood-letting announced on Tuesday by new chairman Sam Weiss.
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SurfStitch CEO inexplicably resigns
Co-founder and chief executive of the successful online retailer SurfStitch has resigned leaving shareholders in the dark.
To help make up the numbers, Weiss has had to collar Quicksilver veteran Harry Hodge, who joins the board this week.
Surfstitch's new boss Michael Sonand scored the remaining board seat, while executive directors Lex Pedersen and Justin Stone have been told to stick to their day jobs and will step down from the board in the new year.
It means Surfstitch will start the new year with just three directors on its board. And they will have just 12 months tenure between them.
Weiss will emerge as the longest serving board member, just six months after he joined the group.
It means the next Surfstitch board meeting might have to come with a map to ensure the new board members know how to make their way to head office.
Among the casualties is Pandora boss Jane Huxley, who will have barely lasted 18 months on the Surfstitch board. The digital guru joined the group just prior to the disastrous string of acquisitions that were designed to boost the retailer's content offering.
That's right, Amazon is steamrolling down on the entire sector and Surfstitch doubled down on outrageously expensive content.
I also have a view that a board should reflect its customer base..nothing more powerful than a representative view.. https://t.co/t79sVbFewz
— Jane Huxley (@Janehux) April 22, 2015
Coal train
The Adani coal mine project has had more twists and turns than an Agatha Christie novel, so we shouldn't be surprised that the proposed rail line – which us taxpayers are meant to help fund – has some interesting twists and turns of its own.
"The private Adani entity proposing the Galilee rail line is run through a string of offshore tax havens including Singapore, the Cayman Islands and Mauritius," said Tim Buckley, from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
Need we inform you that he is not a fan of the project?
Murdoch's house
There was no hiding Rupert Murdoch's newfound cosiness with President-elect Donald Trump in the latest News Corp announcement which reported that board member Elaine Chao will resign "effective if and when she is confirmed as Secretary of Transportation" in Trump's White House team.
"Ms Chao's decision to resign was not due to any disagreement with the company on any matter relating to the company's operations, policies or practices," said the statement to the ASX.
Chao is the wife of US Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell.
City limits
Kiwi casino operator, Sky City Entertainment, has announced that former gaming analyst Jennifer Owen has successfully joined its board after gaining approval from the relevant authorities.
It comes two years after her first attempt to garner a board seat with an ASX-listed company came to nothing after alleged pokie and pub operator, AG&E;, failed to float.
Owen had to make a few sacrifices for her new role.
She stood down from the board of Racing NSW in September, just nine months after her appointment for a three-year term, to make way for Sky City.
In other news, G8 Education chairman Mark Johnson has accepted an invite from David Gonski to join the Coca-Cola Amatil board.
It should sit nicely alongside his childcare duties at G8 where he replaced the colourful Queenslander Jenny Hutson.
Good Guys, bad dates
Now that The Good Guys is safe in the bosom of ASX-listed retail juggernaut JB Hi-Fi, it can try all manner of innovative sales strategies with the backing of its new owner.
The company informed CBD on Tuesday that this includes bringing forward its Boxing Day sales this year – "likely to the week leading up to Christmas" which "means consumers can purchase presents at a discount before Christmas, rather than having to wait until after the day", said a friendly company spokesman.
If they really wanted to catch people's attention The Good Guys could ditch the Boxing Day Sale tag and call it a Pre-Christmas Sale.
Got a tip? ckruger@fairfaxmedia.com.au
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