Tracey Fellows, News Corp’s president global digital real estate, has announced she will retire.
According to The Australian Financial Review, she told staff that she leaving the business for personal reasons.
Fellows, who has been credited with establishing the REA Group’s dominance in the digital real estate space, oversaw online assets such as realestate.com.au, the US site realtor.com and India’s housing.com.
Prior to joining News Corp in 2019, she was the CEO of REA Group from 2014 to 2019, Australia Post’s executive general manager of communication management services from 2013 to 2014, and Microsoft’s president Asia Pacific from 2011 to 2013.
Insiders told the publication that she was a trusted member of the company by Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch and was a potential candidate for the role of chief executive of News Corp.
Robert Thomson
News Corp CEO Robert Thomson shared news of her retirement at a Goldman Sachs conference last week and praised her track record at the company.
At the conference, he noted that Fellows played a crucial role in “connecting the Australian culture with the US culture” in regard to the digital real estate business.
Thomson added that she would not be replaced and that he will take on her responsibilities in the role.
“The need for someone to drive that conversation, in the same way, isn’t quite there, and that’s a mark of [Fellows’] success and her contribution commercially and culturally,” he said at the conference.
According to the publication, Fellows will return to Australia from New York and will focus on board responsibilities, as well as serving on the boards of the REA Group and Swedish company Hemnet.
News of Fellows’ New York-based role in was revealed at the end of 2018. At the time, she said: “It has been an absolute privilege working with the team and the board at REA Group.”
“It’s one of the exciting things about the opportunity. It allows me to take on a new challenge while continuing to work alongside these incredible people – all in an industry I am so passionate about. I feel very fortunate. There could not be a more exciting time for a role like this.
Fellows continued: “We can clearly share lessons from around the company and continue to raise the bar on best practices.
“I’m really looking forward to working with Ryan and the team at realtor.com and our talented people around the world with the aim of creating amazing property experiences for consumers globally. There is no doubt that there are some interesting opportunities to broaden our international reach and serve more people,” she added.
See also: Tracey Fellows latest Australian-based media exec heading to New York
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Top image: Tracey Fellows