Antony Catalano shrugs off corporate shenanigan claims to carry on living high life
ANTONY Catalano shocked the media and real estate worlds by walking away from Domain last month, saying he wanted to spend more time with family. So, what has he been up to?
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WHY wouldn’t Melbourne millionaire media entrepreneur Antony Catalano be smiling?
Partying in the legendary Aspen “ski in-ski out” bar and bistro Cloud Nine, perched in the Colorado mountains, his only concern seemed to be getting sprayed by a conga line of revellers with magnums of champagne.
Mr Catalano and his friends spent time singing, dancing and drinking champagne at Cloud Nine, which has the US’s No. 1 account with Veuve Clicquot champagne.
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The rich and famous make the trek to the old patrol shed 3330m up for what Vogue magazine calls the “world’s wildest ski party”.
Two weeks ago, Mr Catalano shocked the media and real estate worlds by walking away from Domain, the property listing business he carved into a $1.7 billion company.
Mr Catalano said he wanted to spend more time with family, promptly boarding a flight to the US and his favourite mountain retreat.
Photographs show him smiling — a smile that has helped charm countless people and build several business empires.
Amid the anarchy, friends belt out Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline, the party anthem of the middle-aged.
Mr Catalano is 50, has wealth estimated at $70 million and owns the Rae’s on Wategos resort in Byron Bay.
Rumours of a new jet and yacht abound.
Good times never seemed so good.
Not bad for the self-made son of Italian immigrants who got his start as a police roundsman at the Sun News-Pictorial.
So why are people saying so many nasty things about the man nicknamed “The Cat”?
The swish industrial-chic South Melbourne office of Domain, designed by Artillery Interior Architecture, is a product of the nation’s property boom.
But this week the focus has shifted to what was going on within those walls leading up to Mr Catalano’s abrupt resignation.
Complaints emerged — levelled by a former male staffer who no longer works at Domain — of a “boys’ club” culture in which women were called “doll” and “babe” and regularly “perved at”. Mr Catalano is reported to be denying those claims.
Several attempts were made to contact Mr Catalano this week but he chose not to comment.
It is also understood official anonymous complaints were made about the workplace culture following Domain’s swank Christmas party, called The White Party, at South Yarra’s glitzy Emerson Rooftop Bar and Club in December.
It is believed the company’s new human resources manager Beryl Truong, who had only come on board in October after a successful career at Apple and Oracle, took the complaints. They were quickly escalated to Domain chairman Nick Falloon.
It is not suggested Mr Catalano is the subject of those Christmas party complaints.
Some staff who attended the party told the Herald Sun they were miffed to find what they saw as a “class” system in place.
An attendee said different wristbands were allocated to selected staff entitling them to “top-shelf spirits, all the good stuff”, leaving other staff to drink cheaper booze.
A select group of partygoers also got access to a luxury hotel room across the road from the party, a staffer said, “and they were there until all hours”.
“There are a lot of young people in the office in Melbourne. There’s a party vibe in the office, a young bunch who are up for a good time,” the staffer said.
But more was to come.
Apparently, Mr Catalano was ropeable about reports in the Australian Financial Review — a Fairfax publication — of a party culture among some workers. The report also alleged favourable treatment of some staff. These are based mostly on anonymous sources.
The AFR reported one claim was made in 2016 — at least a year before Domain was floated by parent company Fairfax.
The Herald Sun is not suggesting any of these are true, and is only reporting that the claims have been made.
Either way, in response to the AFR stories, Mr Catalano engaged a defamation lawyer who is now believed to be briefing barrister Stuart Littlemore QC.
EXPLOSIVE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST FORMER DOMAIN BOSS ANTONY CATALANO
It now seems that it is “lawyers at 20 paces” between The Cat and his old employer.
Some at Domain and Fairfax are furious with Mr Catalano for quitting his powerful post.
Fairfax took full control of Mr Catalano’s Metro Media in 2015 in a $72 million deal that saw his company rolled into Domain.
The media company in February last year revealed Domain would be spun out, with Fairfax shareholders being given one Domain share for each 10 shares they held.
Mr Catalano — with the backing of Fairfax chief Greg Hywood — would run the listed spun-out company.
But only two months into that listing, The Cat decided to walk away.
It was a move which sent the Domain market cap falling by more than $300 million. It still hasn’t recovered that full amount, although the markets have been in turmoil.
Some say the resignation had more to do with personal enmity between Mr Catalano and Mr Falloon.
While he was allowed to be entrepreneurial under Mr Hywood, with Mr Falloon as his chairman at Domain and with all the restrictions of a listed company, those close to Mr Catalano said he thought: “Stuff it, I’m already a millionaire I don’t need this”.
Up until the resignation it seemed to be a summer like no other.
Days after The White Party, Mr Catalano celebrated the marriage of his son, Jordan.
On December 31, his wife’s Instagram account shows him on a mansion rooftop overlooking St Kilda beach with family waving sparklers to see in the New Year.
The next day, he was in Byron at Rae’s in his uniform of white jeans, black T-shirt and loafers, clutching what could be a Bloody Mary.
Days before the meeting with Mr Falloon, which some say led to his resignation, he was at the Portsea Polo.
Family photos show him always with a smile. But how long had he been thinking of getting out?
Some say the seed was planted last year.
They point to Mr Catalano talking with private equity fund TPG Capital which also looked at buying Domain, and would have run it as a private business with The Cat in charge as entrepreneur in chief. TPG walked away after looking at the books.
When Mr Catalano chose to escape the furore over his sudden departure, he high-tailed it to Aspen with his family and mate, Premier Investments chief Mark McInnes.
Mr McInnes resigned from his job as David Jones chief in 2010 as the retailer was sued by Kristy Fraser-Kirk, 25, a junior publicist who accused the older man of sexual harassment.
Mr McInnes has always denied the claims.
But The Cat has never cared too much what others have thought as he fought his way up the ladder.
Journos who worked with him as a cadet remember him being able to talk his way into places others could never dream of getting into.
“And he was the only cadet I ever knew who drove a red sports car,” one former colleague said.
The Cat was known among his police rounds colleagues for the car, which one remembers as a Karmann Ghia, a stylish Volkswagen coupe, now collectable.
At the same time he was phoning in copy to the newsdesk, he somehow managed to run a business serving legal documents.
“He was always a businessman — it was never a transition from journalist to businessman as some say happened,” the colleague said.
“He always had another business, always had a house he was renovating.
“He was a businessman before he was a journo.”
It is a busy month ahead for The Cat. He will be celebrating his wedding anniversary with wife Stefanie on February 18 — one day before Domain is expected to reveal its half-year results.
As he is still a large shareholder he might look closely to see how his investment is going.
After all, he is turning 51 on March 11, and would want to celebrate in style.
It would probably give him another reason to smile if Domain funds a party.
And the one thing no one is denying this week is that The Cat likes to party.
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