David Ingle Thodey (born 14 May 1954) is an Australian businessman who is a former chief executive officer of

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets related products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 stock index, and is Australia's largest telecomm ...

and current chairman of accounting software company Xero. He became

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

in July 2024.

Early life and education

Thodey was born in

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. He was educated at

Nelson College Nelson College is the oldest state secondary school in New Zealand, a feat achieved in part thanks to its original inception as a private school. It is an all-boys school in the City of Nelson that teaches from years 9 to 13. In addition, it r ...

in New Zealand from 1967 to 1971''Nelson College Old Boys' Register, 1856–2006'', 6th edition and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and English from

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

. Thodey attended the

Kellogg School of Management The Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management (branded as Northwestern Kellogg) is the graduate business school of Northwestern University, a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois. History Early ...

postgraduate general management program at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in Chicago.

Career

Thodey held several senior executive positions in marketing and sales within

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

Australia/New Zealand and across IBM Asia Pacific, including holding the position of managing director for Australia between 1999 and 2000. Thodey joined Telstra in April 2001 as group managing director of Telstra Mobiles. He was appointed to the position of Group Managing Director Telstra Enterprise and Government in December 2002 and was responsible for the company's corporate, government and large business customers in Australia, TelstraClear in New Zealand and Telstra's International sales division. He became chief executive officer of Telstra on 19 May 2009, following the departure of American Sol Trujillo from the office. Thodey retired from his position at Telstra in April 2015. Thodey was appointed chair of the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

Board, with effect from November 2015. He also became the chairman of Xero in 2020, and Ramsay Health Care. In May 2018, the then 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 Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...

announced an independent review of the

Australian Public Service The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the G ...

as a whole, to be chaired by Thodey. The review is to produce “an ambitious program of transformational reforms to ensure the APS is fit-for-purpose for the coming decades, and to guide and accelerate future reform activities”. The review was completed in 2019. It included 40 recommendations. In its response, the government fully agreed to 15 of the recommendations, agreed in part to 20, noted two and rejected three. In March 2024, the

named Thodey as its new chancellor, effective from July that year. He will succeed Belinda Hutchinson, who held that position for more than 11 years.

Recognition

In 2017 Australia Day Honours, Thodey was appointed an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AO) "for distinguished service to business, notably to the telecommunications and information technology sectors, to the promotion of ethical leadership and workplace diversity, and to basketball". He has been presented with three honorary doctoral degrees: an Honorary Doctor of Science from

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...

in 2015 "for distinguished service in the science and technological community", an Honorary Doctorate in Business from the

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1988, though its origins as a Institute of technology, ...

and a Doctor of Business (honoris causa) from the University of Sydney in 2023 "for his contributions to business, telecommunications and public service".

References

External links

David Thodey CEO profile - Telstra Executives and Directors

Xero Board of Directors
Living people Businesspeople from Perth, Western Australia People educated at Nelson College Victoria University of Wellington alumni Kellogg School of Management alumni Australian chief executives Telstra people 1954 births Officers of the Order of Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Chief executives in the technology industry {{Australia-business-bio-stub