Internode Out, iiNet In: Simon Hackett Leaves NBN Board As Michael Malone Joins

It’s a revolving door on the board of the National Broadband Network today; Internode founder Simon Hackett has stepped down to focus on his work as executive chairman of battery company Redflow, and his spot has been filled by iiNet founder Michael Malone.

Michael Malone has a long (and storied) history as the founder and CEO of iiNet, with over 20 years’ experience at the helm. Malone also founded the information security firm Diamond Cyber in 2014

There’s an interesting symmetry here — iiNet, then under the control of Malone, bought Internode, then under the control of Hackett, in 2011. The combined Internode-iiNet would then go on to buy Adam Internet, and along with Westnet and TransACT the conglomerate represented one of the largest ISPs outside of the traditional Telstra/Optus duopoly. iiNet was then bought by TPG in 2015.

Internode founder Simon Hackett, who leaves today to focus on building Australian battery energy storage pioneer Redflow, has been on the NBN board since November 2013. In a statement, Hackett said: “it’s with a sense of regret that I must bid farewell to the nbn team and to my colleagues on the nbn board. I will greatly miss the experience of being in the midst of something so very pivotal, in a space I care about so much. It has been a privilege to be a part of such an endeavour and I would jump at the chance to return if future opportunity should arise.”


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