Hugh Marks, who split with his wife last year, is leaving Nine after revealing he had a relationship with a direct report.
The CEO of Nine has confirmed he and Alexi Baker started the relationship a few months ago when she was managing director, commercial. She left Nine last month.
Marks, who told board directors on Saturday of his decision to step down as CEO, had been the subject of speculation about his personal life, including news reports in the Daily Telegraph.
Nine doesn’t have a policy about relationships between employees. The decision to leave was sudden. Only last week at the company's AGM was Marks was granted incentives valued at $2 million.
However, Marks says he had decided some time ago to depart. "Was someone out to get me? I don't know, I don't really care."
Marks told Nine’s the Sydney Morning Herald: "I think there are aspects to any relationship, particularly at my level with another senior executive, raises questions.”
And: "When it became clear this relationship was going to become a subject of ridiculous gossip and so much pressure was going to come on the people in the business I just said to myself the right thing to do at this point is to take that pressure off the business and its people."
Nine has been a stand out player in the Australian media landscape, emerging from the coronavirus in better than expected financial health.
Marks has been driving the company to a digital future, has positioned the high value streaming platform Stan for more growth and has the Nine network increasing its share of the television advertising dollar.
Possible candidates to replace Marks include chief sales officer Michael Stephenson, Mike Sneesby, the CEO of streaming platform at Nine, and Chris Janz, chief digital and publishing officer.
Tom Malone, who runs Nine radio business, is another possible, as is Lizzie Young, managing director, group marketing and local markets.
In an email to staff on Saturday, Marks says he will stay at Nine until there is a replacement.
He says it has been a privilege to lead the company.
“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,” he says.
“We have demonstrated the importance of great content, be that in the powerful and unique journalism we create every day, across all platforms, or in entertainment, where the shows we build become household names and engage Australians in their millions. Because at the end of the day, we are, and will remain, a content business.
“COVID-19 has also demonstrated how we are stronger together. It is clear now, that Nine’s assets across television, radio, print and digital are a unique proposition together for advertisers, but also for Nine, as we grow powerful subscriber businesses, like Stan and our mastheads, both of which are at record subscription levels.”
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