Dreamworld parent Ardent Leisure faces a tough challenge recruiting their third CEO in six months

IT pays $2 million a year but this corporate gig is viewed by many business leaders as ‘a poison chalice’. The job has been vacated but what will it take to fill the position?

Dreamworld remains in turmoil.

DREAMWORLD’S parent Ardent Leisure will likely have to bump up the salary and poach a leader from mining or manufacturing as it looks for their third CEO in six months, with many high-calibre leaders likely to see the role as “a poison chalice”.

Simon Kelly, a former finance boss at Channel Nine, resigned suddenly yesterday, a fortnight after the first anniversary of the tragedy on the Thunder River Rapids.

He followed previous CEO Deborah Thomas, a former Australian Women’s Weekly editor, who stepped aside as CEO in April and was replaced by Mr Kelly in June.

Simon Kelly resigned as chief executive of Ardent Leisure Group.

Janine Walker is Adjunct Professor of the Griffith Business School’s Department of Employment Relations and Human Resources and is also an active recruiter for high-level health and university positions.

Prof Walker said Ardent could benefit by shifting their focus from CEOs with media and finance backgrounds to someone with proven success leading companies where a large proportion of staff are doing operational, task-based work.

This would ensure they had credibility within the company, with shareholders and with customers.

Oh, and they’d have to put up a $2-3 million base salary to attract someone good enough.

‘They would have had to be in a senior leadership role, it can’t be their first dance, someone with a proven track record and a strong operational background.

“I’d be steering clear of bankers and people from tech start-ups.”

Brad Richmond and Gary Weiss.

Dreamworld had 1.66 million visitors last financial year, compared to 2.4 million from 2015-16.

The theme park reported visitation slumps of 51.3 per cent for December 2016, 39.6 per cent for January 2017 and 29 per cent for February 2017.

Prof Walker said some leaders could see the job as a “poison chalice”, but that it could suit someone who was actively chasing a challenge.

“It’s going to have to be a highly credible appointment,” she said.

“The sort of person they’re looking for — a lot of them would look at it and think `how hard do I want life to be?’.

“But there would be some who would see it as a challenge.”

Mr Kelly’s remuneration was structured so he sacrificed $500,000 of his $1.1 million cash salary for restricted securities in the company that were linked to performance and could not be touched for three years.

He also had potential incentive arrangements that took his overall potential remuneration to $2.05 million.

He didn’t stay long enough in the position to receive any of the performance-linked payments, and it is unknown whether he will receive termination pay.

Deborah Thomas stepped aside as CEO of Ardent Leisure in April and left the company in July.

His departure follows the announcement in September that Charlie Keegan, the chief executive of Ardent Leisure’s US-based Main Event tenpin bowling centres, would step down from his position on November 24.

The CEO of Ardent’s bowling and entertainment arm Nicole Noye will also step down two days after Christmas.

Chairman Gary Weiss, the third chairman in a year, yesterday said the board was sorry to see Mr Kelly go.

“The Board of Directors is disappointed with Simon’s resignation and would like to thank him for his contribution to the group and wish him well in the future,” he said.

Geoff Richardson, the group’s chief financial officer, will assume the role of interim CEO.

Investor concerns that the company faces a fresh round of uncertainty sent its shares down 3.2 per cent to $1.81 yesterday morning, but they had recovered to $1.835 by market closing.