The House of Stokes simply cannot quit Seven.
When octogenarian billionaire Kerry Stokes stepped away from his media empire in February after securing a merger with Southern Cross, many observers suggested the family was washing its hands of the industry.
Not so fast. On Monday, Stokes’ son, Ryan Stokes, was announced as chair of Southern Cross Media, the newly merged entity. In doing so, Stokes becomes the fourth person to chair the company since the start of the year, a move which puts the Seven network and The West Australian newspaper back in the hands of one of the nation’s most influential media families after months of boardroom upheaval.
In many ways, this is an unexpected move for Stokes the younger. Unlike his father, he has never shown much interest in being a media mogul.
His energies are largely devoted to the far more profitable industrial conglomerate SGH Ltd, which owns construction materials company Boral and equipment rental firm Coates Hire. That acronym was born after Ryan pushed to ditch the old name “Seven Group Holdings” in 2024, reflecting in part a pointed shift in focus away from the media. Despite insisting, following the announcement of the Southern Cross merger, that SGH wasn’t getting out of media, all signs initially pointed to a generational shift in the family’s priorities.
Ryan also does not appear to share his father’s level of commitment to Western Australia, the state in which the company formerly known as Seven West Media flexed its power most potently, controlling the only newspaper in a one-newspaper town and amassing significant political and cultural influence through its annual Telethon event.
With his primary residence a $16 million estate in Darling Point, Ryan appears more interested in cultivating a place among Sydney’s eastern suburbs harbourside elite.
So why is the family regaining control of Seven? For starters, despite Ryan’s reservations, Kerry Stokes looks to rather enjoy being king in the west. It’s easy to see why, at a sprightly 85, he wouldn’t be quite ready to give up the family’s influential heirloom just yet. By stepping up as chair, Ryan has given his dad the ultimate Father’s Day gift.
It’s also a shrewd bit of business for the family. As part of the merger, they reportedly extracted about $180 million in tax benefits based on the losses it accrued during the course of their ownership of Seven. Now, they’ve cashed in those benefits and regained effective control of the company (which was at pains to say it still had a strong complement of independent directors).
It also puts an end to months of squabbling between loyalists of the two merged entities, which has served as an unwelcome distraction since January. The Stokes family maintained a 20 per cent stake in the new entity and did not take kindly to Southern Cross’ efforts to make a merger look a little like a takeover.
Heith Mackay-Cruise, who chaired Southern Cross before the merger, took over from Kerry Stokes as chair of the new entity in February. Within days, Jeff Howard, the former Seven West Media chief executive, had been ousted, hours before the company’s financial results were set to be released.
By May, Mackay-Cruise was out. He resigned after major investor Sandon Capital lodged a request to remove a number of the company’s directors, arguing that the merger had been financially disastrous. He was replaced by Teresa Dyson, a Stokes loyalist, who will remain on the board as a regular director.
The chaos which gripped Seven was also heightened by a purge of up to 300 jobs in which several high-profile on-air female reporters and presenters lost their jobs. Perhaps all this was enough to give Kerry Stokes a bit of seller’s remorse.
Adding another twist to the boardroom wrangling was news that Bruce McWilliam, Seven’s former commercial director and a long-term confidant to Kerry Stokes, had gathered a 10 per cent stake in Southern Cross Media, bankrolled by Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person.
McWilliam was always expected to seek a spot on the Southern Cross board but did not emerge with one after the latest reshuffle. Perhaps Kerry Stokes is wary of his Westralian frenemy Rinehart gathering too much influence over the company he built.
After all, there can only be one king in the west. By stepping up as chair of Southern Cross, Ryan Stokes has ensured that title stays in the family for now.
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Kishor Napier-Raman is a senior business writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Previously he worked as a CBD columnist and reporter in the federal parliamentary press gallery.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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