Nine executive shake up: Maria Phillips departs as CFO, Matt Stanton promoted

Nine Entertainment has announced that its Chief Financial Officer, Maria Phillips, will be departing the Nine business. In conjunction with this, Nine’s executive team will be restructured. Matt Stanton, currently Nine’s Chief Strategy Officer and Managing Director, Olympics and Paralympics, will assume a new role as Chief Financial and Strategy Officer.

Maria Phillips will leave the business before the FY23 annual results are released.

Stanton has strong commercial experience and has led general management, financial, transformation and growth areas across a range of sectors, including food and beverage, retail, and media. Educated in the UK, Stanton holds a BA in Finance and Accounting. Prior to joining Nine, Stanton was the Chief Executive Officer of Barambah Organics, and has also held the position of Chief Transformation Officer at Woolworths, and Chief Executive Officer of Bauer Media (now Are Media).

Matt Stanton

Chief Executive Officer, Mike Sneesby, said “Maria has been a valued member of the Nine executive team since she joined Nine three years ago, including leading Nine’s finance modernisation project. We will miss her enthusiasm and many contributions to Nine. We wish Maria well with the next chapter of her career. We are fortunate to have someone of Matt’s calibre leading Nine’s finance and strategy function. Bringing these functions together will enhance Nine’s capacity in dealings with our commercial partners and driving efficiency across the business.”

Stanton said “Since joining Nine in September 2022, I’ve had the opportunity to work on some amazing deals including negotiating Nine’s Olympic Games and Paralympic Games rights agreements. I’m delighted to have the opportunity to take on this broader role, working with Nine’s great finance and strategy teams, to develop our commercial acumen.”