- Nine Entertainment (NEC) has appointed Mike Sneesby as Chief Executive Officer, effective from April 1, 2021
- Mike Sneesby comes with a depth of local and international media experience, most recently holding the role of CEO of Stan Entertainment since its inception
- The ongoing position will have a fixed remuneration of $1.4 million per annum and an annual entitlement of $1.75 million in performance rights
- Current CEO Hugh Marks will step down at the end of March
- Nine Entertainment is down 0.65 per cent, trading at $3.05
Nine Entertainment (NEC) has appointed Mike Sneesby as Chief Executive Officer, effective from April.
The ongoing position will have a fixed remuneration of $1.4 million per annum, inclusive of superannuation, and a short-term incentive of between $1.4 million and $1.75 million.
As a long-term incentive, Sneesby will also have an annual entitlement to performance rights of $1.75 million subject to shareholder approval.
“I am honoured to be entrusted with this important role, to be the custodian for many of Australia’s most important, valuable and iconic media brands,” said Mike Sneesby.
“The Nine family is made up of journalists, technicians, producers and so many dedicated to their craft, it will be the honour of a lifetime to lead them.”
Mike Sneesby comes with a depth of local and international media experience, most recently holding the role of CEO of Stan Entertainment since its inception.
Previously, Sneesby held the position of CEO of the Microsoft/Nine Entertainment eCommerce joint venture, Cudo, up until its sale in 2013. Prior to this, Mike set up the invision IPTV service in Dubai as Vice President of IPTV for the Saudi Telecom/Astra Malaysia joint venture, lntigral.
“We are pleased to make such a significant appointment. Under Mike’s leadership, Nine will be able to maintain the strong momentum it has built in audience, subscribers, content, revenue and earnings,” said NEC Chairman, Peter Costello.
“Mike is well placed to continue to drive Nine’s transformation as a digitally led business which is actively adapting to meet the contemporary media consumption habits of Australians.”
Mike Sneeby will be appointed following the stepping down of current CEO Hugh Marks.
“I want to pay tribute to the remarkable tenure of Hugh Marks, who in 2015, inherited a legacy television business with a market capitalisation of around $1.3 billion. Through the combined strength that came from the Nine-Fairfax merger, our current market capitalisation has grown to just over $5 billion,” said Peter Costello.
Hugh Marks will finish his term as CEO on March 31, 2021 and will remain available to assist Mike Sneesby with a handover throughout the following months.
Nine Entertainment is down 0.65 per cent, trading at $3.05 at 12:45 pm AEDT.