The board of the country’s largest online bookseller, Booktopia, has forced co-founder Tony Nash to step down as executive director and asked him not to work in the office during his notice period.
ASX-listed company has appointed its chief financial officer Geoff Stalley as interim chief executive while seeking a permanent replacement.
Booktopia CEO Tony Nash will remain the group’s director. Credit: Janie Barrett
The announcement came as a surprise, as the company said in May that Nash would only resign from the position he had held in the group since 2004 once a new CEO was appointed. Nash intended to remain in an executive role overseeing the group’s strategy.
The change of direction for Booktopia followed an investigation by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald into the group’s troubled 18 months as a listed company and how the company fell into disfavor with investors, who have wiped out more than $ 400 million. of dollars of the group’s market capitalization in recent months.
The investigation also revealed that Booktopia had been personally firing silently after being unable to keep up with optimistic forecasts made due to a decline in online spending after easing pandemic restrictions.
Booktopia shares fell 5 percent to 31 ¢ after the announcement of Nash’s departure from the group’s executive ranks, giving it a market capitalization of $ 44 million.
“The company has just completed an internal review of the business focused, among other things, on its overall strategy, efficiency and cost structure. As part of this process, the board has determined that retaining Tony Nash as director of growth and at the same time appointing a new CEO was not in the best interest of the business in the future, ”the company said in a statement.
“Accordingly, the board has notified Tony to step away from the company’s executive management to allow a new CEO to enter with a fresh start on a well-established basis.”
The company intends to keep Nash as director. It maintains a 14% stake in Booktopia.