Rear Window
Telstra CEO Andy Penn to marry in Tuscany
Joe AstonColumnistWe all know Telstra chief executive Andy Penn has been having some marriage troubles in recent times – those of the same sex variety, thanks to his former chairman Catherine Livingstone, who last month bowed to pressure from the telco's major customer, the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and its Archbishop Anthony Fisher, over its corporate support for Australian Marriage Equality. Days later, after a broader customer backlash, Penn fronted Telstra's backflip.
So at least he's had some recent practice in the thorny domain of nuptials. Because he's now getting married himself.
Six weeks from now, the British veteran of insurer AXA Asia Pacific, 52, will wed his Nebraskan fiancee Kallie Blauhorn in the Tuscan hills of San Gimignano, before 70 friends and family.
Blauhorn is director of the Monash Gallery of Art, home to the leading permanent collection of Australian photography, in Melbourne. She is also a former staffer at not-for-profits Very Special Kids and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (Penn is now a director of both). The couple are keen supporters and collectors of Australian contemporary art.
Penn has children from his first marriage. Still, he surely must chew food with his mouth open, or have a secret Star Trek-themed man cave, or else the bloke's life is just too bloody perfect.
Funnily enough, the Penns are tying the knot just 60 kilometres (and on the other side of Siena) from the village of Asciano, where logistics baron Chris Corrigan owns a villa – thus why his archrival Mark Rowsthorn named the freight giant after the town when it demerged from Toll in 2007. Rowsthorn's successor as CEO of Asciano was John Mullen, who is just finishing up after selling the company in pieces to Canada's Brookfield and to Qube, chaired by Corrigan (that's called the last laugh). And Mullen's new gig? He's Penn's new chairman at Telstra! Circles within circles …
Unfortunately, when Penn returns from his honeymoon, he'll have to throw himself straight into the divorce – from FOXTEL, that is. Telstra needs to extricate itself from a tired and bitter relationship with 50 per cent partner, News Corp, who, frankly, has been holding them back. Charlene and I have been telling them for years but they just wouldn't listen …
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