Ex-diplomat and Obama lawyer Jeffrey Bleich named Nuix chairman

Former American ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich is set to become the chairman of Macquarie Group-controlled forensic software company Nuix.

Former US ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich. Picture: Fran Foo

Former American ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich is set to become the chairman of Macquarie Group-controlled forensic software company Nuix, which is tipped to be the biggest float of the year if it proceeds with a listing on the Australian Securities Exchange in December.

The San Francisco-based Mr Bleich, who was the US ambassador to Australia from 2009 to 2013 and was a special counsel to President Barack Obama during the first year of his administration, joined the Nuix board in 2017.

The former diplomat first came across Nuix in his work as a Californian lawyer because of the firm’s business discovery software. He developed a greater interest in Nuix when it expanded into cyber security.

During his three-decade legal career, Mr Bleich became a specialist in complex litigation with a particular interest in cybersecurity, intellectual property and international disputes.

“Jeff is an outstanding individual with deep experience and gravitas across business, politics and public policy. His position on our Board reflects the truly global nature of Nuix as an organisation, while his connections to our home country in Australia are obvious,’’ said Nuix chief executive Rod Vawdrey.

Mr Vawdrey, who has more than 40 years’ experience in technology related organisations, commenced as a consultant to Nuix in February 2015 and then became chief operating officer of the company after serving as president of Fujitsu’s global business group and chief executive of Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand.

“Among our clients are governments and law enforcement agencies around the world. Having someone of Jeff’s pedigree and calibre carries a lot of weight. And he’s been an important mentor for me as CEO. His long association with Nuix comes with a passion for the social benefits that our technology brings. Important efforts such as helping to stop human trafficking are areas that he cares about personally,’’ he said.

He declined to comment on the prospect of the company pursuing a sharemarket listing.

Nuix, whose software allows users to process and make sense of huge amounts of data, will this week release analyst research from joint lead managers Macquarie and Morgan Stanley, the second part of the management investor roadshow to cornerstone a float.

Macquarie is Nuix’s biggest shareholder with a 65 per cent stake. It has also been looking for a potential strategic buyer for the firm through a concurrent trade sale process, but is now ramping up the IPO.

Nuix first started selling its software in 2006 and recorded $176m revenue in the 2020 financial year, more than half of which came from North America and most of which was subscription-based revenue.

If the float proceeds, Nuix also plans to focus on strategic acquisitions to build a network of partners which can provide complementary delivery and market expansion capabilities and support new implementations of Nuix’s software.

The firm has also developed a pipeline of potential channel partners to drive the resell of Nuix products.

In April this year Mr Bleich joined San Francisco-based autonomous vehicle technology company Cruise as its chief legal officer.

Before that he was a partner at the global law firm Dentons, where he was a leader of its global diplomatic consulting group. He also served as a partner at Californian law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, where he was recognised as one of the state’s leading litigators.

He is no stranger to public company boards, last year taking on the chairmanship of US utility giant PG&E, which filed for bankruptcy protection after amassing tens of billions of dollars in debt related to devastating wildfires in Northern California caused by its equipment.

He left the board in early May this year as PG&E emerged from bankruptcy.