Myer chronology
November 21, 2025
Here is a chronology looking at Solly Lew's history with Myer.
1982-1985: Solly Lew spent $78m buying Myer Emporium shares at an average price $1.85. As part of the 1985 Coles Myer merger, he subsequently received 25.286 million shares in the renamed Coles Myer group, plus $46.36 million cash - a net cost of just $31.44 million or $1.24 per Coles Myer share before considering tax and holding costs.
1987: shortly before the October 1987 stockmarket crash, Solomon Lew's private business empire had wracked up $143 million in loans from Tricontinental, the merchant banking arm of State Bank Victoria.
July 24, 1989: whilst that original Myer investment was his best ever deal, the decision by Lew's then 31% owned Premier Investments in 1989 to spend $449 million buying a big block of Coles Myer shares from Frank Lowy and Joseph Brender proved to be a disaster when Paul Keating's recession we had to have and record high interest rates struck in the early 1990s. As Alan Kohler wrote at the time, it gave Lew control over 18% of Coles Myer, only behind Kmart with 21% and the Myer family with 9%.
June 1990: The ANZ Bank paid $9 a share or $224 million to Solomon Lew's Premier Investments for a 4.7% stake in Coles Myer and ANZ CEO Will Bailey joined Solomon Lew on the Coles Myer board from October 1990. The purchase enabled Premier Investment to replay a big chunk of its loan facility to ANZ.
May 21, 1991: 45yo Solomon Lew steps up as non-executive chair of Coles Myer with Brian Quinn losing power as executive chair and flagging his retirement as CEO in 1993. At the time, Kmart was still the largest shareholder with 21.5% and the Myer family still owned 9%.
July 24, 1992: Brian Quinn retired as CEO of Coles Myer and Peter Bartels commenced as the new CEO.
April 27, 1994: Brian Quinn charged with fraud over allegedly false invoices for $4.8m related to work on his Templestowe mansion.
November 5, 1994: Coles Myer completed the $US928m buyback of Kmart's 21.5% stake in the company at an 8% premium to the market price. Kmart had first bought into Coles in 1978. The buyback cemented then chair Solomon Lew as the largest shareholder.
June 5, 1995: Philip Bowman starts his new job as Coles Myer finance director.
September 5, 1995: Philip Bowman sacked as Coles Myer finance director, revealed the Yannon transaction and share price crashes 10% in one day.
October 17, 1995: Lindsay Fox, Will Bailey and James Gobbo quit the Coles Myer as the first casualties after the Yannon scandal.
October 25, 1995: 66yo former NAB CEO Nobby Clarke appointed chairman as the institutional and Myer family candidate but he only has two years in the job because the Coles Myer constitution forces directors to retire at the age of 68. This meant Solomon Lew went from being executive chair to just a non-executive director as the Yannon controversy swirled around him.
May 1996: retiring Amcor CEO Stan Wallis appointed as an independent director on the Coles Myer board and he went on to succeed Nobby Clarke as independent chair two years later. This was also the month when sacked finance director Philip Bowman was paid $1.75m to settle his unfair dismissal claim.
May 27, 1997: The Herald Sun published its page one splash about a weekend break in at ASIC where the intruders reportedly went looking for "the Coles Myer room". Solomon Lew subsequently sued for defamation and this judgment sums up the issues.
February 19, 1999: Solly Lew sold his private 84.2 million Coles Myer shares, or 7.3%, through JB Were at $8.38 a share for a gross $705 million and retained a 57 million shares or 4.9% through Premier Investments. This sale remains the best retail investment exit of his career.
November 2002: Solomon Lew was voted off the Coles Myer board after a big proxy campaign which culminated in a huge AGM at the National Tennis Centre where he was defeated. His close ally Mark Leibler also exited.
March 2006: Coles Myer sold Myer to private equity firm TPG and the Myer family for $1.4 billion with Bill Wavish to be executive chair after Dawn Robertson decided to quit - see announcement.
June 2007: TPG and the Myer family sold the enormous Melbourne CBD property holdings to CFS Retail property trust and leased it back for 60 years.
February 26 2008: Solly Lew nominated Terry McCartney to represent him on the Just Group board - see announcement.
March 31, 2008: 25 days after Terry McCartney joined the Just Group board representing Solly Lew, Premier Investments launched a takeover bid that ultimately succeeded and saw all 4 female non executive directors sacked when it was delisted on September 22, 2008. Ernst & Young audit partner Rob Perry was brought in by the Lew interests to audit the final Just Group accounts.
March 19, 2017: Premier Investments splashes $101m on a 10.8% stake in Myer, commencing a 7 year campaign to seize control which finally succeeded in 2024.
November 2017: Premier Investments led the 30% protest votes against all of the Myer directors up for election as chair Paul McClintock retires and Gary Hounsell becomes chair.
November 2018: Premier Investments led the 37-43% protest votes against all of the Myer directors up for election.
November 2019: Premier Investments led the 18-25% protest votes against all of the Myer directors up for election.
October 29, 2020: chair Gary Hounsell pulled out of his re-election bid on the day of the AGM, presumably after Lew ensured he didn't have the number. There were 33% protest votes against the other resolution including CEO John King's incentive grant, which Lew had not previously opposed.
November 2021: Premier Investments led the 33-37% protest votes against all resolutions, including triggering a rem strike.
November 2022: Lew nominee Terry McCartney was forced onto the board by the shareholders with 61.2% voting support and independent chair JoAnne Stephenson and Jacqui Naylor only scraped home for re-election 56-44 with Lew voting against both.
May 2, 2023: Vanessa Hudson was announced as the new CEO of Qantas.
June 5, 2023: Myer announced that CEO John King will retire in the second half of calendar 2025 and return to the US.
October 9, 2023: Myer announced that chair Joanne Stephenson was falling on her sword at the AGM two months later with Ari Mervis stepping up as the new chair and Solly Lew was supporting the appointment of two new directors, Gary Weiss and Olivia Wirth. This was the day when control effectively passed.
November 9, 2023: AGM was held in Sydney with the only protest vote being 18% against election of Gary Weiss.
March 14, 2024: Ari Mervis was rolled as independent chair after just 6 months with Olivia Wirth taking over as executive chair and Gary Weiss stepping up to be deputy chair and lead independent director. Both only joined the Myer board, with the express support of Solomon Lew, in October 2023.
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