Olivia Wirth’s appointment as Myer boss underlines the influence of Solomon Lew

Olivia Wirth’s appointment as the new boss of Myer comes amid a leadership shake-up that underlines the influence of major shareholder Solomon Lew.

Olivia Wirth replaces Myer chair Ari Mervis, left, and CEO John King, right. Picture: Eugene Hyland

It should have been blindingly obvious when Olivia Wirth walked into the boardroom at Myer for the first time after the annual meeting last November, that she was really only in transit to the CEO’s office.

Considerably more surprising, though, is the foreshadowed absence of a chairman in the adjoining office.

We find Wirth replaying the role, once held by her new mentor, and biggest investor in her – and Myer’s - code-shared future.

She will be the executive chairman – that’s to say, chairman and CEO.

Just like Solomon Lew was all those years – indeed, decades – ago, at the then-much bigger and far more valuable Coles Myer in the mid-1990s. Albeit for Lew, briefly.

She immediately becomes the non-executive chairman - until current CEO John King departs in June - replacing former brewing executive, Ari Mervis.

Mervis was, according to the woman he replaced as chair just four months ago at the annual meeting, JoAnne Stephenson, and I quote:

“The outstanding new chairman, and the right person to oversee the next stage of Myer’s growth journey”.

Hmm. It appears that he was either only the “right person” for, or the “next stage” only lasted, four months.

Or was it that neither he nor Stephenson saw what was, ahem, brewing, when barely a month before the AGM, they had “decided” to appoint two new “independent” non-executive directors.

One was Wirth, the other was Gary Weiss, who has been around the corporate wheeling and dealing block for nearly half-a-century, after crossing the Tasman with the “Down Under original” Ron Brierley.

Interestingly, it was formally noted in the Myer press release back at the time, that “both” had the support of Myer’s largest shareholder: the said, if unnamed, Lew.

I’d take it a few steps further.

Wirth is – was - clearly Lew’s selection as CEO, to replace King, who presumably moves into a very well-earned retirement somewhere back in the Old Dart.

Weiss would have come onto the board, with the clear knowledge of this. And only four months in, just like Wirth, he becomes the deputy chair and “lead independent director”.

It is really quite an extraordinary, rapid – and total – transfer of control to a new team.

To Wirth as CEO and, importantly, also chairman; Weiss as deputy chair; and also Lew’s sole board representative, Terry McCartney, in what will be a five-member board after King’s departure.

Wirth comes into the job, with the Myer share price at its highest point for seven years – apart from the brief surge, a year ago, in the post-Covid (early days of rate hikes) retail spending boom.

More importantly, she inherits a business in not only rude good health, despite all the tsunamis of change that have washed over bricks and mortar retail and department stores most negatively of all.

But a business, developing pre-Covid, but really given its head through Covid, that has sprouted, and sprouted sustainably on-line, with now more than one-in-every five dollars spent at Myer digitally.

In turn, all built around a loyalty program just like Wirth ran at Qantas.

All shareholders – and Wirth – should say: thank you John.

Originally published as Olivia Wirth’s appointment as Myer boss underlines the influence of Solomon Lew