Doyle to become 10 per cent shareholder of Warriors
Warriors managing director Jim Doyle is to become a 10 per cent shareholder in the NRL club.
Doyle and chairman Eric Watson have reached an agreement for Doyle to become a minority shareholder and have a seat on the board, while Watson will retain the other 90 per cent of the Warriors.
Watson is so sure that Doyle is the right man to lead the club in a successful direction that he wants to be able to keep him on board long-term and he’s done this by letting him have a stake in the club.
‘‘It’s a model we use in other businesses, where the CEO has a shareholding in the company,’’ Watson said.
‘‘If you have a good CEO and they have skin in the game so to speak, they’re an equity holder, they become more of a partner than an employee.
‘‘They’re someone you can work, plan and collaborate with.
‘‘I’ve got to know Jim quite well over the last few years and he fits the culture well, he’s also a very experienced and capable CEO that could be running a much bigger company.
‘‘But he’s passionate about the Warriors and I’m keen to lock him in.
‘‘So he’s going to have a shareholding, as well as be on the board and it’s a good outcome for everybody.’’ The last time Watson let someone else have a stake in the Warriors was when Sir Owen Glenn became a 50 per cent shareholder from 2012 to 2015. That partnership ended acrimoniously after the pair fell out.
Glenn suggested gifting his half to Warriors members in 2015, but in the end sold it back to Watson.
It’s unlikely Doyle’s involvement as a part owner will end on such bad terms.
Doyle’s 10 per cent share of the Warriors won’t be gifted to him, he will have to buy it from Watson.
‘‘We’re finalising the negotiations of how the shareholding structure will work,’’ Watson said.
‘‘But he’s a full on shareholder, with a shareholder’s agreement and minority rights and all those things you’d expect an experienced businessmen to negotiate.
‘‘He truly becomes a partner and has an economic interest in the future of the business.’’
Meanwhile, Watson has set up a football advisory board at the club, which includes on it Sir Graham Henry, former NFL head coach Eric Mangini and ex-Warrior Awen Guttenbeil.
‘‘I became a 100 per cent owner last year and decided to become chairman,’’ Watson said.
‘‘When I did that, we started talking as a board about how we have a huge degree of expertise and diversity as a board, but it’s mostly business-related, not sports-related.
‘‘We’ve always said let’s get a really good sports-type person, we had John Hart for a few years but we thought let’s get someone who’s really good at rugby league, but there’s not that many people.
‘‘So the thinking was more to separate the football away from the corporate governance, commercial stuff and put it into a rugby league focused board.
‘‘Then let’s populate it with world-class people that’s not just rugby-league people but those who have demonstrated huge global success in a sport, hence the appointment of Sir Graham Henry, Eric Mangini, Awen Guttenbeil, so we’ve got an amazing group of people and all they’re focused on is winning at rugby league.’’