Ryan Stokes in driver’s seat but knows who’s boss

For years Ryan Stokes was cast as living in the shadow of a media mogul. But he says working for Kerry is a privilege.

Seven Group CEO Ryan Stokes in his Sydney office on Friday. Picture: Nikki Short

For years Ryan Stokes was cast as living in the shadow of a media mogul.

As the most high-profile son of billionaire Kerry Stokes, that might have been true a decade ago and almost certainly was at the start of his career.

But Stokes says he sees working with his father as a privilege and an opportunity.

“There was never any pressure and I’ve never taken for granted the opportunity to work in a family business,” Stokes tells The Australian. “It’s always been a privilege, not a right but clearly I’ve had a really strong desire to take advantage of it, work as hard as I can and make my own contribution.”

Twenty years after joining his father’s private investment vehicle, Australian Capital Equity, Stokes is now regarded as an ­accomplished executive in his own right along with a string of public service roles.

Still, the 44-year-old admits receiving an Officer in the Order of Australia was unexpected only midway through his career: “I feel very lucky to have had the opportunities and hopefully I have added some value along the way.”

The Sydney-based executive has roughly split his corporate time between the family’s crown jewels: its media and Seven Group conglomerate arms.

He joined the board of Pacific Magazines in 2002, designed the Yahoo!7 joint venture and shadowed his father on its $4.1bn reverse takeover of West Australian Newspapers in April 2011.

Stokes relished his time during a relative golden era for the ­nation’s media industry.

“The media industry was very different back then and the competitive dynamics that played through aggressively in that you were fighting for revenue share in a growing market,” Stokes recalls.

“It was a fight that was very fruitful. If you won more share, you got more revenue and the market was growing, so it was a very different dynamic.”

Fast forward to the last few months, as the industry took a hammer blow from COVID-19, shows the stark changes that have taken place. “COVID-19 has tested all media companies because of the speed with which revenues have declined,” Stokes says.

“It was unfathomable to imagine the market would just disappear by half. But the business will be nimble enough to respond and it will come back, but the model has to evolve.”

Seven Group, where Stokes has been chief executive since 2015, has also endured a reinvention of sorts under his watch.

There were internal frustrations over the “shareholder discount” attributed to the company a few years ago. But Seven Group has impressed many by not sitting still and diversifying into energy, in addition to the mining and infrastructure base.

The company’s share price has more than tripled under Stokes’s watch and he’s clearly buoyed that strategic moves to buy out the rest of Coates, sell WesTrac China, move into Beach Energy and ­acquire a 10 per cent stake in Boral have been well received.

“It’s been great to see the business transition and there’s been an appreciation of investors to our strength of diversity,” he says.

He’s also proud of his involvement in a range of less well known endeavours, including chairing the National Youth Mental Health Foundation at the invitation of then prime minister John Howard at the age of just 29.

Stokes says the progression of the importance of mental health recognition in Australia has been among his proudest moments.

“The importance and significance of what mental health challenges mean and to see Australia progress has been very pleasing and a great source of pride,” he says. “Even through this COVID issue, to see the reaction of and people come together to very quickly realise the mental health side before it becomes an issue shows how far we have come.”

With few signs his father plans to step back from the coal face, Stokes says he is relishing working with his father, who he also calls “the boss”.

“I’m very lucky to have a father who is an incredible leader, mentor and supporter and someone who will hold me to account and ultimately is the boss. It’s a special relationship and one that I value.”