Ahmed Fahour
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Ahmed Fahour ( ar, أحمد فاعور ; born 1966) is a
Lebanese Australian , langs = Australian English, Lebanese Arabic, Standard Arabic, French, Armenian , rels = Majority: Christian: Maronite Catholic, Orthodox, Melkite Catholic, Protestant (55%), Minority: Islam: Shia Islam, Sunni Islam, Alawite (37%), Jewish a ...
businessman. He is the managing director (MD) and CEO of
Latitude Financial Services Latitude Financial Services (shortened to Latitude Financial or Latitude) is an Australian financial services company with headquarters in Melbourne, Victoria, also doing business in New Zealand under the name Gem Finance. Latitude’s core busin ...
, and was formerly MD and CEO of
Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation, is the government business enterprise that provides postal services in Australia. The head office of Australia Post is located in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a post o ...
, and CEO Australia of the
National Australia Bank National Australia Bank (abbreviated NAB, branded nab) is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "The Big Four") in terms of market capitalisation, earnings and customers. NAB was ranked 21st-la ...
(NAB).


Early life and career

Fahour was born in Lebanon in 1966 and migrated to Australia with his parents, Abdel and Siham, in 1969. His parents became successful businesspeople in Australia and have eight children. He studied at St Joseph's College in
North Fitzroy Fitzroy North is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cites of City of Merri-bek, Merri-bek ...
and later attended Redden College in Preston. In 1987, he graduated from
La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria an ...
in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
with a bachelor's degree of Economics. He went on to complete a
Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
at
Melbourne Business School Melbourne Business School (MBS) is the graduate business school of the University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The School offers an MBA program, specialist Masters programs, a doctoral program, and executive education programs. The MBS Hea ...
in 1993 while working for
Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the Big Three (or MBB, the world’s three largest management consulting firms by rev ...
. He became a director of the group in 1997, and spent a year as co-managing director of its joint-venture investment company, Iformation. Fahour joined NAB in September 2004 as CEO Australia, and became an executive member of the board. In February 2009, he stepped down from the principal board and group executive committee. Fahour has held directorships of
Nasdaq The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
Dubai,
Rip Curl Rip Curl is a designer, manufacturer, and retailer of Surfing#Equipment, surfing sportswear (also known as ''boardwear'') and accompanying products, and a major athletic sponsor. Rip Curl has become one of the largest surfing companies in Aust ...
and has been a trustee of the
Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...
. He was invited by the Prime Minister and Treasurer to be the interim CEO of the Australian Business Investment Partnership.


Australia Post

In December 2009, Fahour was announced as the new MD and CEO of
Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation, is the government business enterprise that provides postal services in Australia. The head office of Australia Post is located in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a post o ...
(a federal government-owned business), commencing in February 2010. There, he commenced a business renewal program, called "Future Ready". The program involved the implementation of a more customer-focused business model designed to capitalise on Australia Post's reputation as a trusted services provider. Under Fahour's direction, Australia Post had two consecutive years of profit growth (in FY2011 and FY2012) following steep profit declines in the preceding two years (FY2009 and FY2010), as Australian letter volumes started to decline. Further letter volume decline led to reduced profits in FY2013 and FY2014, with repeated calls from Fahour for the government to support fundamental reform of the letter service to prevent Australia Post incurring future losses. In March 2012, Fahour announced plans to create the "Australia Post Digital MailBox", as part of the postal corporation's strategy "to build a sustainable communications business, both physically and digitally". The Digital MailBox was given a soft launch at Parliament House, Canberra, in October 2012 and it was officially opened to Australian consumers for the first time in May 2013. In June 2014, Fahour was widely criticised for his $4.8 million salary, whilst sacking 900 staff. He was once Australia's highest-paid public servant, receiving a total salary package of $5.6 million (including a $1.2 million bonus) in 2016. Under Fahour's leadership, in 2015 Australia Post recorded its first full-year loss in over 30 years, with half-year profits down some 56 percent. In February 2017, Australian Prime Minister
Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...
criticised Fahour's $5.6 million salary saying, "As the Prime Minister and a taxpayer, I've spoken to the chairman today. I think that salary, that remuneration, is too high." On 23 February, Australia Post announced that Fahour has resigned as MD and CEO of Australia Post, and would step down from the role in July 2017. Upon resigning from CEO of Australia Post, in July 2017 Fahour joined BCG Digital Ventures as non-executive chairman for
Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...
.


Later career

In 2011, Fahour was appointed the
Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...
's special envoy to the
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...
. In 2014, Fahour was appointed chairman of Pro-Pac Packaging Group (PPG). The same year he was appointed an adjunct professor at La Trobe Business School and became a fellow of the
Australian Institute of Company Directors The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) is a non-profit membership organization for directors. The AICD is a founding member of the Global Network of Director Institutes (GNDI). History The origins of the AICD can be traced ba ...
. In 2017 Fahour was appointed an
Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
for distinguished service to business, particularly in the area of postal communications, to the banking and investment sectors, and as a supporter of improved multicultural relations. In October 2018, Fahour was appointed MD and CEO of
Latitude Financial Services Latitude Financial Services (shortened to Latitude Financial or Latitude) is an Australian financial services company with headquarters in Melbourne, Victoria, also doing business in New Zealand under the name Gem Finance. Latitude’s core busin ...
.


Views on extremism

Fahour says the best way to counter
Islamic extremism Islamic extremism, Islamist extremism, or radical Islam, is used in reference to extremist beliefs and behaviors which are associated with the Islamic religion. These are controversial terms with varying definitions, ranging from academic unde ...
is to give Muslim young people jobs and opportunities. He says that extremists misinterpret Islamic teachings such as the Quranic injunction, 'whoever kills an innocent person, it's as if he has killed all of mankind'.


Personal life

Fahour lives in Hawthorn, Melbourne, in a house that he bought in 2013 from Globe International co-founder Peter Hill for $20 million. The house was originally built for Sir James Frederick Palmer, the first Speaker of the
Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...
and was later owned by the comic and entrepreneur
George Coppin George Selth Coppin (8 April 1819 – 14 March 1906) was a comic actor, a theatrical entrepreneur, a politician and a philanthropist, active in Australia.Sally O'Neill,Coppin, George Selth (1819–1906), '' Australian Dictionary of Biography'', ...
, before becoming a private school. Fahour and his family have made significant financial contributions to the
Islamic Museum of Australia The Islamic Museum of Australia (IMA) is a community museum in Thornbury, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It began as a not-for-profit foundation founded in May 2010 with the purpose of establishing the first Islamic museum in Australia. I ...
, the founder and director of which is his brother, Moustafa Fahour, a former
Macquarie Bank Macquarie Group Limited () is an Australian global financial services group. Headquartered and listed in Australia (), Macquarie employs more than 17,000 staff in 33 markets, is the world's largest infrastructure asset manager and Australia's ...
executive. His sister, MasterChef participant Samira El Khafir, is the head chef and manages the cafe on site. Moustafa's wife, Maysaa, is the chairwoman and director. Fahour was married to Dionnie and has four children. He has four brothers and three sisters.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahour, Ahmed 1966 births Australian people of Lebanese descent Australian chief executives Australian public servants Officers of the Order of Australia Australian Muslims Boston Consulting Group people Citigroup people La Trobe University alumni University of Melbourne alumni Living people Fellows of the Australian Institute of Company Directors