Nine is on the lookout for a new chief financial officer after incumbent, Paul Koppelman, announced his resignation citing family reasons.
Koppelman had only been in the role for 10 months and many deemed him as an odd choice given the fact he had no previous media experience. Koppelman plans to return to his hometown of Melbourne with his family.
A statement for the ASX this morning read:”Nine Entertainment advises that Paul Koppelman has resigned for personal reasons including the recent death of a family member. The resignation is effective immediately. Graeme Cassells, currently Group Financial Controller, will take on the role of acting CFO.”
Koppelman is a qualified chartered accountant. Prior to his appointment at Nine in August last year, he was CFO of ASX-listed Aconex, through to its acquisition by Oracle. Prior to this, he was the CFO through the IPO process at Medibank Private Limited, and prior again, CFO of the Global Aluminium (UK) and Commercial (Netherlands) Groups at BHP.
Koppelman said of his departure from Nine: “My decision to stand down from my role at Nine is a deeply personal one and a time when I have had to put my family before my career. My wife suffered the loss of her much loved mother recently and she and my children need my total focus and love at this time, as we in Melbourne go back into severe COVID restrictions. These restrictions also meant I would be unable to attend results presentations and so the timing was made easier for us all.
“I have loved my time at Nine and it is a business I will continue to follow and enjoy from the outside, I wish Hugh [Marks] and the team all the best and much success,” Koppelman said.
Marks added: “We are sad to see Paul go but understand that he needs to put his family first. I want to take this opportunity to thank Paul for his contribution and support during his time with Nine and we have great confidence in Graeme stepping into the role as acting CFO.”
