Mat Baxter who is currently Mutinex APAC CEO will be transitioning to a board advisor effective from 30 September 2024.
Baxter joined Mutinex as APAC CEO in May this year. At the time, there was plenty of speculation about whether the two very strong personalities of co-founder Henry Innis and Baxter would be compatible. (Pictured above: Baxter and Innis)
“Going in I think we both knew this would be a grand experiment. What became apparent to me in the four months since joining is that there’s not enough space for Henry and I in the day-to-day business,” said Baxter.
“So I took the simple decision to resign, and the board had asked that I serve as an advisor,” said Baxter.
“Mat Baxter came to us and said he felt he could contribute more effectively as an external advisor than an internal CEO. We respect his decision and want to continue to get the benefit of his extensive global experience and advice,” said Mutinex chairman Brodie Arnold.
“I continue to be as big an advocate for the company today as ever. And I continue to be an investor and shareholder,” said Baxter.
“Mat and I are both extremely hands-on operators and I’m a very involved co-founder. I think he felt a little constrained because of that and so we’ve created this new plan to address it,” said Innis.
Mutinex continues its aggressive expansion into the US market. “The other advantage here is that we get to access Mat’s experience in the US market which wasn’t being directly accessed in his role as APAC CEO, so we’ll be tapping him up for help there too,” said Innis.
Mediaweek covered Mat Baxter joining Mutinex earlier this year
Alisha Buaya reported:
Mat Baxter is joining the marketing investment analytics company Mutinex as its APAC CEO, following the former Initiative and Huge boss’ return to Australia earlier this year.
“I did not want to fall back into a well-trodden track of doing the agency thing. I really made a point of that,” he told Mediaweek of deciding to join the disruptor led by Henry Innis. “I said publicly that I would not do anything that isn’t hyper-disruptive.
“This was the only thing I saw that was hyper-disruptive, that got me excited. When Henry showed me the product, I was like, fuck, I’m doing this 100%.”
See also: Mat Baxter joins Mutinex as APAC CEO: ‘Good luck to anybody else’
Mediaweek talks to Baxter and Henry Innis: (pictured above) “You don’t hire leaders like Mat Baxter unless you know you’re strapping in for a roller coaster ride of growth.”
Ad industry welcomes home Mat Baxter as he departs IPG after 14 years