Mark Di Stefano

Sydney

Columnist, Rear Window at Australian Financial Review

Rear Window columnist, The Australian Financial Review — [email protected].

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Articles

MinRes board in turmoil as governance committee directors Susie Corlett and Jacqueline McGill quit

1 week ago | afr.com | Mark Wembridge |Mark Di Stefano

Two Mineral Resources board members who also sat on the corporate governance committee set up to investigate the conduct of the miner’s billionaire founder have dramatically quit the company. Susie Corlett and Jacqueline McGill have been critical of Chris Ellison, MinRes’ outgoing managing director, and are leaving the board.
Greensill animal spirits resurrected at Barrenjoey

1 week ago | afr.com | Mark Di Stefano

If there’s something fashionable in finance, you can bet Matthew Grounds and his Barrenjoey burrito boys will be somewhere cooking. Its private markets team recently launched the “Barrenjoey First AG Credit Fund”, seeking $80 million to get in on the frothiness around private credit. Get access to “sophisticated commodity-backed lending” that was originated by “merchant banks in the early 18th century” for “medium to large scale” agribusinesses.
Measles outbreak linked to Tim Gurner’s luxury spa

1 week ago | afr.com | Mark Di Stefano

Victoria’s chief medical officer Dr Tarun Weeramanthri issued an alarming alert over the weekend, about an increase in measles cases in greater Melbourne. The number of cases “is increasing” and those with the virus have been “infectious while in public settings” in the city and Gippsland. Keeping measles in check has got a lot harder recently because all sorts of people are spurning science and deciding not to get themselves, or children, vaccinated.
Clayton Larcombe starts new life as a Middle East artificial intelligence venture capital investor

1 week ago | afr.com | Mark Di Stefano

Finding safe harbour in the tight-knit Australian funds management industry was always going to be difficult for Clayton Larcombe. He’s the owner of PAC Capital, which at one stage claimed to have $500 million of funds under management. Then this masthead came along with questions over his track record and CV, and Larcombe’s self-narrative began to unravel. Loading...
Power dynamics around Peter V’landys and Gil McLachlan

1 week ago | afr.com | Mark Di Stefano

If the VIP invites to Randwick racecourse represent anything, it’s the unique dual role that Peter V’landys fills in public life. As the CEO of Racing NSW he gets to handpick attendees in his director’s suite. On Saturday, those showing out were all about his chairmanship of the NRL’s governing body. Peter V’landys and his wife, Philippa, leaving Lachlan Murdoch’s Christmas party last year. James BrickwoodLoading...
Star Macquarie executive is the master of corporate drivel

1 week ago | afr.com | Mark Di Stefano

How does one show #humility in uncertain times? Through vapid LinkedIn posting, of course. Just ask Macquarie Bank star executive Ben Way. Don’t worry, he’ll tell you!Way shared with everyone that he’d stacked it getting to work last week because he “1. I underestimated the incline of a very steep hill” and “2. I overestimated the grip of a brand-new pair of shoes”. Loading...
Surprising thaw of Twiggy Forrest and Kerry Stokes feud

2 weeks ago | afr.com | Mark Di Stefano

Personal feuds between billionaires are common in these parts. And although there isn’t a ranking per se, one in particular has been catching everyone’s attention, particularly in Perth mining circles. The breakdown in the relationship between Fortescue’s Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest and Seven Group and Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes began in late 2022. Several stories critical of Twiggy’s mining operations began to appear in the pages of Stokes’ The West Australian. Loading...
MinRes and Chris Ellison careening down its Fury Road

2 weeks ago | afr.com | Mark Di Stefano

Mineral Resources slumped another 13 per cent on Wednesday, one of the biggest ASX losers in a market awash with red. The company’s stock was $96 at the start of 2023. Shares are now changing hands at $14, leaving Chris Ellison’s miner a market cap of $2.8 billion. This is (to put it mildly) a rather humiliating place to be. MinRes equity is valued at less than fast-food restaurant chain Guzman y Gomez.
Star CEO Steve McCann’s $10m loan fee farce

2 weeks ago | afr.com | Mark Di Stefano

Last month, Star Entertainment CEO Steve McCann and chair Anne Ward announced a new debt facility had been agreed on with King Street Capital Management. This was a New York-based outfit described by Star as a “leading global alternative investment firm” – a polite way of saying hedge fund vultures who will sell their mothers for a price. Loading...
James Hardie chief executive Aaron Erter partying in Florida as shareholders fume

2 weeks ago | afr.com | Mark Di Stefano

Existential angst caused by the merger of building materials groups ASX-listed James Hardie and Chicago neighbour Azek is here and now. Local fund managers are apoplectic at James Hardie CEO Aaron Erter’s move to issue new shares to acquire Azek for $US9 billion ($14.9 billion). Worsened for the ASX’s decision to issue a waiver (without telling anyone), that means shareholders won’t get to vote on the deal that’ll shift the company’s centre to the US capital markets. Loading...