Global property chief shown the door

Simon Baker, the man who turned a simple Australian website into a multi-million dollar global property business, has been sacked as Chief Executive of REA Group.  

Baker was the brains behind the success of Australian market leader realestate.com.au before becoming Chief Executive of REA Group, which owns a large number of international property portals including HotProperty.co.uk in the UK and Casa.it in Italy.    

Chairman Richard Freudenstein says: "Now the board feels it is time for new leadership to take the business to the next level... the board would like to thank Simon for his contribution to this success and we wish him well in his future endeavours."

For all his considerable entrepreneurial and management talent, Baker is famous for being "hard to handle" and has never been afraid to speak his mind, sometimes coming across as over confident and arrogant.

Sources say that the dismissal was down to a clash of personalities and political issues rather than financial performance.

Some consider it a risky decision by the REA Group board and one they could come to regret as Baker is not only considered a talented businessman but is seen as a natural leader and reputedly inspires loyalty from the people who work for him. 

It is expected that the REA Group board will appoint a more corporate man with the brief of delivering better short-term "shareholder value".