Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has been Fairfax Media’s biggest shareholder for the past two years, but last Friday saw Australia’s richest woman sell her 14.99 per cent stake in the company.
In explaining the move, John Klepec, the chief development officer of Rinehart’s part-owned Hancock Prospecting says: “We have come to the conclusion that the senior leadership of Fairfax Media has no workable plan to revitalise the company and address the declining business and circulation numbers.”
“A series of bad decisions made by the leadership team has instead increased the number of publication errors and reduced the company’s performance to cover news to standards expected to maintain the credibility of some of the oldest and finest newspaper mastheads in the country. Should the Fairfax Media leadership change, we may consider a future role in the company.”
Rinehart’s 353.4 million shares did not go to a single buyer, but a wider group of investors.
