Nine CEO Hugh Marks quits as relationship with former colleague Alexi Baker revealed

Nine Entertainment boss Hugh Marks will exit the media company after confirming a relationship with a former executive.

Nine Entertainment CEO Hugh Marks. Picture: Adam Yip

Nine Entertainment chief executive Hugh Marks has unexpectedly quit the media company, telling staff “the time is right” to begin the process of moving on after five years in the role.

The comments come just hours after Mr Marks confirmed he was in a relationship with a former direct report Alexi Baker, who left the company last month.

Mr Marks outlined his decision to quit the company that owns Channel Nine and newspaper titles including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, in a memo to staff sent on Saturday afternoon.

It is highly unusual for a CEO of an ASX-listed company to announce a resignation during a weekend and before informing investors. It is understood Mr Marks spoke with Nine chairman Peter Costello late on Friday.

The decision is expected to catch investors off guard, as listed companies often use their annual meeting to outline succession planning. Nine held its AGM last Thursday and the issue was not discussed.

“After five successful years for Nine, I have decided the time is right for me (to) begin the process of moving on,” Mr Marks said in the staff memo sent Saturday afternoon.

“An announcement to this effect will be made to the market on Monday and we will then commence a formal process for both internal and external candidates for my replacement. And of course, I will be around to ensure a smooth transition as the business embarks on its next stage of growth,” Mr Marks said.

The surprise announcement follows Mr Marks confirming on Saturday to Nine’s SMH that he was in a relationship with Ms Baker, Nine’s former commercial managing director. Last month The Australian’s Margin Call reported that Ms Baker was leaving the media company to pursue a new challenge. At the time of her departure Ms Baker was a direct report of Mr Marks.

Alexi Baker. Photo Jeremy Piper

Mr Marks told the SMH on Saturday that Ms Baker’s decision to leave Nine was so they could “progress” their relationship “unimpeded” by corporate responsibilities. Mr Marks separated from his wife a year ago.

Ms Baker joined Nine in September 2011 as strategy manager, which she held for four years before moving to the role of corporate development & investments director, according to her public profile on professional social network site LinkedIn.

After seven months, she was promoted to director of strategy & corporate development, and in February was promoted as managing director of commercial.

During her tenure at Nine, she was also a non-executive director of its businesses, CarAdvice and Pedestrian, for more than two years up until 2018.

This week Nine’s Mr Costello had faced questions about Mr Marks photographed in a park with his executive assistant Jane Routledge earlier this year. The photographs were first published in the Sunday Telegraph in May.

Hugh Markspictured with his executive assistant Jane Routledge in the Sunday Telegraph in May.

“I don’t believe there is anything that has breached the company’s policies or its code and I don’t believe it warrants any further engagement,” Mr Costello told the company’s annual meeting.

In the memo to staff Mr Marks said it had been a “privilege” to lead the company over a “truly transformational period for both the media market generally, and particularly our business”.

“We have gone from being three separate, legacy media businesses in Nine, Fairfax Media and Macquarie Media, each with their own structural challenges, and created a business that now has a diversified revenue base across both advertising and subscription, and that has a clear growth strategy for decades to come”.

The memo, signed Hugh, thanks Mr Costello “for the extraordinary support he has given to me and to the entire business over the past five years. His commitment to us all and to our future success is without peer”.

“I leave knowing that Nine has an incredibly strong management team leading it across all its businesses. And of course, a depth of passion and drive and commitment right through all of our people,” the memo says. The Australian has confirmed with a Nine spokeswoman the memo was sent by Mr Marks.

During Mr Marks’ five years at Nine, he led the integration of Nine’s television broadcast operations with Fairfax Media’s newspapers following its $4bn merger in December 2018.

The merger also brought together Nine and Fairfax’s streaming joint venture Stan under one roof, and Fairfax’s near 60 per cent stake in online property listing group Domain. The company has also taken full ownership of radio broadcaster Macquarie Media which controls a talk network including Sydney’s 2GB and Melbourne’s 3AW.

Mr Marks has also sold some assets inherited from Fairfax, including its regional and rural newspaper group Australian Community Media, a handful of events businesses and most recently its New Zealand print and digital media business.

Only last week Nine announced that it was expanding Stan’s movie and TV offering to sports for the first time by securing rugby broadcast rights from next year, in a $100m deal over three years. It has subsequently also bought the rights to tennis majors, Wimbledon and the French Open.