Ardent Leisure chose 5.18pm on a Friday, leading into the long weekend, to inform the world that the short but memorable reign of Deborah Thomas had come to an abrupt end.
She will no longer take a subordinate role to the new CEO. She will depart entirely with a year's pay.
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Thomas resigns as Ardent CEO
Deborah Thomas steps down as CEO of Ardent Leisure, the parent company of Dreamworld, six months after a ride tragedy claimed four lives at the theme park. Nine News
It could only be interpreted as an incredibly cynical ploy by a company that seemed to embrace every wrong option in the days following the Dreamworld tragedy last year.
Who can forget the PR disaster, and incredible missteps, following the tragedy.
The decision to reopen the operation as soon as commercially possible - despite the fact that the safest ride in the park had just killed four people. Only later did it occur to management that an independent safety inspection of the whole operation was needed to reassure the public it wouldn't happen again.
It also chose to go ahead, business as usual, with the shareholder meeting just two days after the tragedy.
It meant the board had to publicly defend a bonus for Thomas that - while legitimate - was always going to be a PR disaster.
With this sort of form, Ardent told the market late on Friday that former Nine Entertainment executive, Simon Kelly, would step up to the CEO role, effective immediately. This was a few weeks earlier than expected.
Thomas, instead of stepping down to an operational role that reports to Kelly, will leave the company July 1. She will receive a $3,000 a day consultancy for every day "reasonably expended" in relation to the coronial inquest into the deaths.
She will also pocket $731,291 - a year's pay - for walking away from the group barely two years after she was parachuted into the top job.
Her appointment sent the share price plunging given her only executive experience was editing The Women's Weekly for a decade, and her subsequent role as director of media and brand development at the magazine's publisher, Bauer Media.
Follow CBD on Twitter. Got a tip? ckruger@fairfaxmedia.com.au