Senior management leave TAB under ousted CEO Adam Rytenskild’s management style

The devastating legacy of punted Tabcorp boss Adam Rytenskild can be revealed with several senior members of the executive and management teams leaving the betting giant during his reign.

Former Tabcorp CEO Adam Rytenskild. Picture: John Feder

The devastating legacy of punted Tabcorp boss Adam Rytenskild can be revealed with several senior members of the executive and management teams leaving the betting giant during his short reign.

It means executive chairman Bruce Akhurst has been forced to step into the chief executive role after Mr Rytenskild was forced to resign over an “inappropriate and offensive” comment about a female regulator.

Shareholder activist Stephen Mayne said Mr Rytenskild’s management style had swept out the key figures who could have stepped up to fill the role.

“It is a very poor sign when you have to turn to the board and the executive chairman to do the job because there has been no succession plan,” he said.

Since he took the $2m a year role in May 2022 Mr Rytenskild has seen a string of senior managers leave the business including the chief financial officer, chief operating officer, chief strategy officer and general managers from all areas.

Adam Rytenskild resigned from his post at Tabcorp last week.

Several have spoken to The Daily Telegraph on condition of anonymity and put the blame squarely on Mr Rytenskild’s management style.

“These are not people who wanted to leave Tabcorp, they left Adam Rytenskild,” one said. There is no suggestion that all former staff members left due to their personal views of Mr Rytenskild.

“When they left they took with them the knowledge of the business and the industry that is vital to turning it around,” they said.

Remaining from the original executive team are chief customer officer Jenni Barnett, chief operating officer Paul Carew, chief information officer Alan Sharvin and chief people officer Sharon Broadley.

Australian Shareholders Association chief executive Rachel Waterhouse said she believed the loss of talent and knowledge from the business was the responsibility of the CEO.

Several people speaking anonymously took issue with Adam Rytenskild’s management style while he was the chief executive at Tabcorp.

“The culture of a workplace really does come from the top,” she said. “The challenge for the chair and the board now is to find a suitable replacement.”

The new CEO will face a major challenge after almost $2bn in value was wiped from the legacy bookmaker from $3.5bn to just $1.74bn today.

Ladbrokes owner Entain offered to buy the business for $3.5bn two years ago but any chance of it making an offer now appears to be off the table with its UK share price dropping amid shareholder dissatisfaction at its overseas acquisition program.

Among the names being touted as possibles to fill the CEO role are Entain executive Andrew Vouris, Racing Queensland boss Jason Scott and Melbourne Racing chief Josh Blanksby.

Mr Rytenskild was forced to resign after an independent investigation was launched into an offensive and sexualised comment he made about Annette Kimmitt, the chief executive of the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission.

“I don’t recall making the alleged comment and it’s not language I would usually use, but I have regrettably agreed to resign,” he said in a statement. His resignation cost him up to $10m in lost bonuses.

A Tabcorp spokesman said the board had received no complaints about Mr Rytenskild before the complaint about the offensive comment and had acted immediately.

“The board were first made aware of the matter 10 days ago and launched an immediate investigation,” he said.

Mr Rytenskild was contacted for comment.

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