Michael Gerard Luscombe (22 July 1953 – 27 April 2018) was an Australian businessman. He was the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

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 De La Salle College is a Catholic private school for boys in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern. The college was founded in 1912 by the De La Salle Brothers, a religious order based on the teachings of Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, and is a member ...

and

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

. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Economics A Bachelor of Economics (BEc or BEcon)Bureau of Labor StatisticsHow to Become an Economist/ref> is an academic degree, awarded to students who have completed specialised undergraduate studies in economics. Variants include the "Bachelor of Econo ...

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 (Victoria), Mount Buller, within Mount Buller Alpine Resort, an unincorporated area of the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It is located approximately n ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

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

ANZ Bank The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, commonly known as ANZ Bank, is a multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is Australia's second-largest bank by assets and fo ...

. 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 Tra ...

, 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 two retailers; Woolworths and Lowe's. It was established as a way for Woolworths to enter the hardware retail market, which has been historically dominated by Bunning ...

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

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 $2 billion. Financial analysts expect further losses of approximately $1 billion 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
''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

Death

Luscombe died on 27 April 2018 from

Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) is an incurable, always fatal neurodegenerative disease belonging to the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) group. Early symptoms include memory problems, behavioral changes, poor coordination, visu ...

References

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