Michael Gerard Luscombe (22 July 1953 – 27 April 2018) was an Australian businessman. He was the CEO and managing director of Woolworths, the largest retail company in Australia, from 2006 until 2011.

Early life

Luscombe was educated at

De La Salle College, Malvern , motto_translation = With God As Leader , city = Malvern , state = Victoria , zipcode = 3144 , country = Australia , coordinates = , type ...

and

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...

. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Economics The Bachelor of Economics (BEc or BEcon), or the "Bachelor of Applied Economics", is a bachelor's degree awarded by many universities and colleges for completion of an undergraduate program in economics, econometrics, or applied economics; th ...

in 1978.

Professional career

Luscombe began working for Woolworths in 1978 as a graduate trainee in the company's store at

Mount Buller Mount Buller is primarily a resort town on the slopes of Mount Buller in the Shire of Mansfield of the Australian state of Victoria. It is located approximately northeast of Melbourne. It is popular with snowsports enthusiasts in winter due t ...

in Victoria. He progressed through the company gradually, and became Victorian operations manager in 1990. In 1991, he became national manager for banking at

ANZ ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand ** ...

. In 2004, he was appointed director of supermarkets at Woolworths, and oversaw the company's takeover of more than 150 new stores. In October 2006, Luscombe was announced as the new CEO of Woolworths. During his time as CEO, Luscombe faced pressure from Australia's consumer watchdog, the

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Trad ...

, over the company's practice of using planning laws to object to the construction of supermarkets by its competitors. In August 2009, Luscombe announced the launch of

Masters Home Improvement Masters Home Improvement was an Australian home improvement chain operated by retailer Woolworths Limited. It was established as a way for Woolworths Limited to enter the hardware retail market, which has been historically dominated by Bunnings W ...

, a hardware retailing business to take on

Wesfarmers Wesfarmers Limited is an Australian conglomerate, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It has interests predominantly in Australia and New Zealand, operating in retail, chemical, fertiliser, industrial and safety products. With revenue o ...

Bunnings Warehouse Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian household hardware chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand. Bunnings was founded in Perth, Wester ...

chain. At that time, he stated to the financial press that Masters was expected to be profitable in two to three years. In January 2016, Woolworths announced the cessation of the Masters business after the expenditure of in excess of two billion Australian dollars. Financial analysts expect further losses of approximately one billion dollars in closing down the business. On 4 April 2011, Luscombe announced that he would be retiring as CEO of Woolworths in October.Luscombe checks out at Woolies, with O'Brien to get top job
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The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

Death

Luscombe died on 27 April 2018 from

Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD), also known as subacute spongiform encephalopathy or neurocognitive disorder due to prion disease, is an invariably fatal degenerative brain disorder. Early symptoms include memory problems, behavioral changes ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luscombe, Michael 1953 births 2018 deaths Australian chief executives Monash University alumni Neurological disease deaths in Australia Deaths from Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease