Eminent company director Michael Chaney is coming to the end of his career, with Wesfarmers naming its next chair and a likely successor emerging at Northern Star Resources.
Eminent company director Michael Chaney is coming to the end of his career with former BHP chair Ken MacKenzie to succeed him at Wesfarmers and a likely successor emerging at Northern Star Resources.
Wesfarmers announced today that its board has resolved to appoint Mr MacKenzie as chairman from the conclusion of its 2026 annual meeting, to be held in October next year.
Mr MacKenzie will join the Wesfarmers board as a director on 1 June next year.
The succession plan comes after Mr Chaney announced at the 2023 AGM that he would retire at the end of his current three-year term.
Mr Chaney’s second board role is at gold miner Northern Star Resources, which he has chaired since 2021.
Northern Star’s 2025 annual report, published last week, quietly disclosed that Michael Ashforth has been appointed deputy chairman with effect from 10 July.
That makes the former investment banker a likely successor when Mr Chaney chooses to retire.
Mr Ashforth joined the Northern Star board in July last year and, at that time, there was no mention of him being earmarked as a future deputy chair.
Mr Chaney’s planned retirement from the Wesfarmers board will mark the end of a long career at the diversified conglomerate.
He joined Wesfarmers in 1983, was managing director from 1992 to 2005 and has been chairman since 2015.
Mr Chaney said it has been a privilege to serve Wesfarmers over most of those 40 years.
“It has been remarkable to be part of the journey of Wesfarmers which has grown from a small farmers’ co-operative into one of the largest companies in Australia, delivering shareholder returns significantly above the broader market since listing in 1984,” he said.
“Wesfarmers has always held true to its primary objective of delivering satisfactory returns to shareholders through financial discipline and a strong focus on the interests of all the company’s stakeholders.”
Mr MacKenzie was the chair of BHP Group from 2017 to March this year.
Before that, from 2005 to 2015, he was managing director of global packaging company Amcor.
