Mike Sneesby’s elevation in focus: What’s next for Nine, Stan, and Janz
After a four month hiring process, Mike Sneesby is Nine’s new CEO. Here, Mumbrella’s Brittney Rigby unpacks what his departure from Stan means for the streaming business, whether there’s any substance to reports of a fractious board, and why Sneesby’s first big challenge will be getting his competitor applicants to stick around.
For the past seven and a half years, Mike Sneesby has led one of Netflix’s strongest competitors. On 1 April, the CEO of the $1 billion Stan will be elevated to CEO of the $5 billion Nine, and his remit will expand significantly, stretching across the unfamiliar (to him) publishing, free-to-air, and radio businesses.
Sneesby’s soon-to-be predecessor, Hugh Marks, is in hospital; he didn’t attend the media announcement this morning, held at Nine’s new North Sydney headquarters and immediately following Sneesby’s promotion appearing on the stock exchange.
Chair Peter Costello, who appeared at the event alongside Sneesby, confirmed Marks was hospitalised for an infection a number of days ago, for which he has been undergoing tests. But “I don’t want you to think it’s life threatening, or anything like that”.
