Australia Post has announced that Ahmed Fahour resigned as Managing Director & Group CEO today, Thursday 23 February, and will step down from the role in July 2017.
Fahour tendered his resignation at the company’s Board meeting yesterday, having served as MD and CEO of Australia Post since February 2010. His decision comes in the wake of intense criticism over his $5.6 million pay cheque in 2016 that was disclosed by Australia Post in response to a Senate committee inquiry earlier this month.
“Now, with the business entering the next phase of its transformation, Ahmed’s decision to resign provides opportunity for a new leader to continue the development of Australia Post into a leading international eCommerce player,” said John Stanhope, Chairman of the Australia Post Board.
“Ahmed was appointed at a time when Post was still highly dependent on revenue from the letters service, but the community’s use of letters had already peaked and was in the early stages of decline.
“He led the team that developed an entirely new strategy focused on investing in the parcels and eCommerce business.”
Under Fahour, Australia Post invested in its Parcels & eCommerce business, including acquiring the remaining half of StarTrack from its JV-partner Qantas; doubling the capacity of its Melbourne and Sydney parcels centres; installing 24/7 Parcel Lockers at 264 sites and partnering with Woolworths to install a further 500 sites, to make parcel collection more convenient for Australians; and investing in and forming an international eCommerce alliance with Aramex.