During Macquarie’s half-year results last November, the polished investment group made a rare public slip.
Leaning across to a colleague as the analyst call wrapped up, chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake was caught on a hot mic lamenting her unsuccessful efforts to bring her retail banking lieutenant, Greg Ward, into the discussion.
It was the first big hint that the man leading Macquarie’s banking business, which has emerged as the chief disruptor to the big four, might be destined for bigger things.
Just a few months earlier, Capital Brief had reported speculation that Wikramanayake would soon leave the company, with then chief financial officer Alex Harvey considered the frontrunner to succeed her. It didn’t play out that way.
