Craig Scroggie rides his luck
NEXTDC's 'ginger maniac' is surfing the wave to $112 million of free shares. But can the momentum possibly last?
Every ambitious person wants their career to alight smack bang in the middle of a mega-trend (so something like the opposite of journalism). A halo will stalk even the biggest fool in a mega-trending industry because, the mob presumes, they had the exquisite foresight to be there first. In truth, luck's a fortune.
Exhibit A: NEXTDC chief executive Craig Scroggie, AKA the ginger maniac, thriving in a global data centre bubble. Last month, the NEXTDC board agreed to a "growth incentive plan" under which Scroggie will receive $112 million of free shares in the company if the share price increases 124 per cent by August 2030.[[Scroggie will get $45 million if NEXTDC shares only make it to $26.17 and $90 million if the share price reaches $29.20. These target prices will be adjusted when the company inevitably dilutes shares via capital raisings.]] A further $220 million of free stock is to be shared among Scroggie's key lieutenants.
NEXTDC chairman Doug Flynn reckons Scroggie and his entourage are a real and present flight risk if he doesn't show them some American-style largesse. "The market for talent is now largely global," Flynn explained. "New competitors have entered and continue to enter the market and look to hire existing management expertise wherever they can". Scroggie – an eminent graduate of the University of Southern Queensland (the Harvard of Toowoomba) – is a bright, blazing star, just one inevitable phone call away from launching to international greatness and leaving NEXTDC rudderless and uninvestable.