Melbourne billionaire Alex Waislitz, head of the new star-studded activist fund, has sat on the sidelines of troubled NBN contractor Service Stream for months. But as the company’s fortunes lurch from bad to worse, Waislitz looks set to pounce and call for a board shake-up.

On Monday, investors were fed the bad news of a potential earnings downgrade. That disappointment was buried at the end of yet another blow – the departure of a second chief executive in less than a year.