Tony Staffieri is the CEO of Rogers, one of the largest telecom companies in Canada.
But according to reporting from the Toronto Star, many people see him as a “proxy” for Edward Rogers.
Rogers is the chair of the company and fought to hire Staffieri in a pubic battle that divided the Rogers family.
The Star reports that everyone, whether they are a fan of Staffieri or not, can agree that he has the coveted position partially because of his relations with Rogers’. Staffieri joined Rogers in 2011, was dismissed in 2021, and re-hired six weeks later as CEO. The publication says he developed a “close relationship” with Rogers’ during his time at the company.
“Tony … was a constant through a lot of evolution,” a former company executive told the Star. “That says a lot, I think, about his capability to navigate (Rogers) and the trust he had with the family.”
Staffieri was elected CEO after a public battle that divided the company. It all appeared to have begun after an infamous butt dial. The Globe and Mail reported that former CEO Joe Natale found out about his unseating by a call Staffieri was on. Several people backed up the story in court, including Loretta Rogers.
But Staffieri said that wasn’t the case. “The facts are the facts,” Staffieri told the publication. “There was no butt dial.”
With Staffieri on the job for over a year now, performance reviews are mixed. Analysts agree the company is performing well. With Staffieri’s background as an accountant, that’s not surprising. But others told the Star this came at the cost of investments and long-terms projects. “The way he drove change in the organization was very drastic in the first quarter (of 2021),” a former manger told the Star.
But Staffieri told the publication the company has been redistributing assets and not necessarily reducing spending.
“When you have a larger organization, in my mind, in my experience, you sort of say, let’s stop doing those things and let’s focus and put our money on these things,” he said. “It may come across for some folks as, ‘Well, we’re cutting costs.’ Well, we’re not. We’re just reallocating resources.”
You can read the full Toronto Star feature here.
Source: Toronto Star
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