Robyn Denholm

Robyn Denholm
Denholm in 2018
Born
Robyn M. Sammut

(1963-05-27) 27 May 1963 (age 61)[1]
Milperra, New South Wales, Australia
Alma mater
Occupations
TitleChair of the Board of Tesla, Inc.
TermNovember 2018 – Present
PredecessorElon Musk

Robyn M. Denholm (née Sammut; born 27 May 1963) is an Australian business executive. In November 2018, Denholm succeeded Elon Musk as chair of Tesla, Inc.[2]

Early life

Denholm was born 27 May 1963 in Milperra, New South Wales.[1] Her parents met and married in Tripoli, Libya, immigrating to Australia in the 1950s. She has Maltese and Italian ancestry on her father's side and Maltese and Scottish ancestry on her mother's side; her father spoke five languages.[3]

Denholm grew up in the Sydney suburb of Lugarno with her older brother and younger sister. Her father worked as a welder and her mother was a ledger machine operator. When she was seven years old, the family purchased a service station and workshop in Milperra.[3] Denholm handled the financial accounts, repaired cars, pumped petrol and became interested in cars.[4] She attended Peakhurst High School.[3]

Denholm graduated from the University of Sydney with a bachelor's degree in economics, and from the University of New South Wales in 1999 with a master's degree in commerce.[4][5] Denholm is a chartered accountant (generally equivalent to a certified public accountant in the United States) and a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.[6]

Career

After graduating, Denholm worked in accountancy for Arthur Andersen in Sydney.[4] This was followed by seven years at Toyota Australia.[4][5][7] Denholm worked at the IT companies Sun Microsystems,[7][5] and then Juniper Networks for nine years in finance and operations roles, rising to chief financial officer (CFO) of Juniper.[4][5][7] In 2014, Denholm became a non-executive director on the board of directors of Tesla, Inc.[7] In the following four years as a non-executive director of Tesla, including as chair of the audit committee, Denholm received US$17 million in Tesla stock options.[4]

In early 2017, Denholm was appointed as chief operations officer (COO) of Telstra, Australia's largest telecoms company,[8] subsequently becoming CFO on 1 October 2018.[9] In November 2018, Denholm gave notice of resignation after only five weeks in the role as a result of stepping into the role of chair of Tesla Inc. Telstra CEO Andy Penn announced that Denholm would end her responsibilities as CFO at Telstra on 6 May 2019.[7][10]

In January 2021, Denholm became an operating partner at Blackbird Ventures, a venture capital firm.[2]

In 2023, she ranked 80th in the Forbes list of "World's 100 most powerful women".[11] She was also listed in the Fortune's list of Most Powerful Women in 2023.[12]

Net worth

Denholm debuted on The Australian Financial Review Rich List in 2021 with a net worth of A$688 million.[13]

Year Financial Review
Rich List 		Forbes
Australia's 50 Richest
Rank Net worth (A$) Rank Net worth (US$)
2021[13] 162 Increase $688 million Increase
Legend
Icon Description
Steady Has not changed from the previous year
Increase Has increased from the previous year
Decrease Has decreased from the previous year

Other activities

In 2022, Denholm's family office Wollemi Capital Group purchased a 30% stake in the Sydney Kings and Sydney Uni Flames basketball teams.[14]

Personal life

Denholm is married to David Taylor, a retired electrical engineer. She has a son and a daughter.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b "Robyn Denholm, una mentora para Musk en Tesla". El País. 17 November 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Robyn M. Denholm". Tesla Investor Relations.
  3. ^ a b c d Davis, Tony (26 February 2021). "What it's really like to ride shotgun with Elon". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Waters, Richard; Smyth, Jamie (9 November 2018). "Low-key Robyn Denholm takes on challenge of taming Elon Musk". Financial Times. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d "Tesla picks telco executive Robyn Denholm to replace Elon Musk as chairman". techcrunch.com. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  6. ^ ABB. "Director CV". new.abb.com. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  7. ^ a b c d e Kollewe, Julia (8 November 2018). "Tesla names new chair to replace Elon Musk". the Guardian.
  8. ^ Berndtson, Odgers. "CFO one-on-one interview with Robyn Denholm". odgersberndtson.com. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  9. ^ "Capacity Media". www.capacitymedia.com. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  10. ^ "Telstra announces resignation of Robyn Denholm as Chief Financial Officer". www.telstra.com.au. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  11. ^ "The World's Most Powerful Women 2023". Forbes.
  12. ^ "Robyn Denholm | 2023 Most Powerful Women". Fortune.
  13. ^ a b Bailey, Michael; Sprague, Julie-anne (27 May 2021). "The 200 richest people in Australia revealed". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  14. ^ Thomsen, Simon (16 March 2022). "Tesla chair Robyn Denholm is buying a slice of the Sydney Kings and Flames basketball teams". Startup Daily. Retrieved 13 May 2022.