Been there, done that

Q&A with Jon MacDonald, CEO of Trade Me

Trade Me CEO Jon MacDonald has a new baby son, so he’s after a camera. CEO or not, he’s out there bidding on Trade Me like any other Kiwi. He joined Trade Me in 2003 to manage the technical team. In June 2007 he graduated to general manager, when CEO and founder Sam Morgan took a step back from the company, bought by Fairfax in 2006.

MacDonald says there was “a slow transition” until February last year.

“Sam was coming in a day a week, something like that, and he was looking to remove any ambiguity around our respective roles, so he moved himself into what we termed a chairman (though not from a statutory perspective) and he pushed me into the CEO role.”

The pair block out a day a fortnight “to talk about the bigger things”.

“It gives Morgan a lot of time and flexibility, but it means he remains sufficiently acquainted with the company and we get the benefit of his knowledge and his smarts, and of a fresh pair of eyes.”

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Tags managementTrade Mesam morganjon macdonald

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