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Joel Macdonald

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For the American voice actor, see Joel McDonald.

Joel Macdonald
Born
Australia
Alma materMonash University
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur, Australian Rules footballer

Joel Macdonald (born 10 October 1984) is a businessman and former Australian footballer.

He is the co-founder and former President of failed software company, GetSwift (in liquidation)[1][2] Prior to starting GetSwift, Macdonald was an Australian Rules Footballer, playing for the Melbourne Football Club and the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL).

in 2023 Macdonald and his company GetSwift were handed the largest ever penalty for breaching Australian continuous disclosure laws of $1 million and $15 million respectively[3][4]. Macdonald was found guilty and disqualified from managing corporations for 12 years.[5]

In 2017, he made his debut on the Financial Review's list of the top 100 richest young Australians,[6] with an estimated net worth of over $100 million[7] but his net-worth fell in March 2018 after his company GetSwift was later found guilty of breaching ASX listing rules 3.1.[8][9]

Early life and education and football career

Joel Macdonald
Personal information
Full name Joel Macdonald
Date of birth (1984-10-10) 10 October 1984 (age 40)
Original team(s) Mt Gravatt (QAFL)
Draft No. 70, 2003 Rookie Draft, Brisbane Lions
No. 1, 2010 Pre-Season Draft, Melbourne
Height / weight 188cm / 88kg
Position(s) Defender
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2004–2009 Brisbane Lions 080 (6)
2010–2013 Melbourne 044 (0)
Total 124 (6)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2013.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Macdonald grew up in Melbourne and Brisbane, Australia. He graduated from Brisbane Grammar School. He was recruited by the Brisbane Lions through the 2003 Rookie Draft as a Queensland Zone player (QLD Zone) from Mt Gravatt. He made his debut for the Brisbane Lions in Round 10, 2004.

After the 2009 AFL season the Brisbane Lions delisted Macdonald, along with 11 other players and then on 15 December 2009, Macdonald was drafted to Melbourne with the first selection in the Pre-season Draft.[10]

Macdonald appeared in 125 senior games over 11 years before he announced his retirement from football on 16 August 2013.[11]

Arrest for public nuisance

Whilst playing for the Brisbane Lions, in late 2008 Macdonald was arrested and charged for being a public nuisance and summoned to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court.[12] He was fined $250 and no conviction was recorded.[citation needed]

Business controversy

In January 2018 while CEO of GetSwift, Macdonald was accused of misleading the market by overstating revenue forecasts the public and failing to disclose the loss of what GetSwift claimed were not materially significant contracts.[13][14] Macdonald's company GetSwift requested to enter into a voluntary Trading Halt[15] while they responded to questions by the Australian Securities Exchange.[9][16] This is the second time Macdonald's company has been suspended from trade, after the Australian Securities Exchange issued a trading halt and requested more information after the company announced a deal with Amazon.[17]

Class action lawsuit

In February 2018 MacDonald was named defendant along with his company GetSwift in a A$300M class action lodged in the Federal Court of Australia for failing to disclose price sensitive information to the public. Shares in his company GetSwift suffered a 67% loss in the two days after the action was announced.[18] The company is contesting the accusation and has separately accused Squire Patton Boggs of overstating the claim to A$300M. The Federal Court has found technology and services company GetSwift Limited (GetSwift) made misleading statements and breached its continuous disclosure obligations when making statements to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) between February and December 2017.

The Court also found GetSwift directors Mr Bane Hunter and Mr Joel Macdonald failed to meet their obligations as directors due to their involvement in the announcements made to the ASX, and that they were both knowingly concerned in multiple continuous disclosure breaches made by GetSwift. Former GetSwift director Mr Brett Eagle was also found by the Court to have been knowingly concerned in a more limited number of continuous disclosure breaches made by GetSwift.

ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said ‘Listed companies and their directors have obligations to the Australian market to ensure their statements are not misleading. Investors need to have accurate information at their disposal to make informed decisions’.[19]

Business career

Liquorun (2013–2014)

In July 2013, Macdonald founded Liquorun,[20] an on-demand alcohol delivery service with two other Melbourne players, James Strauss and Rohan Bail. The service expanded to operate across major Australian cities.[21] In a 2015 interview, Macdonald said that their service had been initially questioned by the Victorian Police (for allegedly breaching the Liquor act while running Liquorun) but the matter was later dismissed.[22][23]

GetSwift (2014–present)

In 2014 Macdonald re-branded the company as GetSwift, shutting down the delivery business in the process.[24] The GetSwift business was marketed at small businesses to "dispatch like Uber, track like Domino's and set routes like FedEx".[25][26]

In 2016, GetSwift listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.[27] In June 2017 the company raised a further AUD$24 million[28] and began announcing major partnerships.[29] In November 2017 GetSwift controversially announced a deal with Amazon and provided no other details resulting in an 80% increase in their share price and putting Macdonald on Australia's "young rich list".[30] The lack of detail prompted the Australian Securities Exchange to issue a suspension from trade while GetSwift responded, trading resumed a few days later.[17] In December 2017 GetSwift raised a further AUD$100M as critics started to question the validity of GetSwift's announcements.

In January 2018 as part of an investigation conducted by the Australian Financial Review, GetSwift and Macdonald were alleged to have misled the market by overstating forecasts to the public and failing to disclose the loss of major contracts.[13][14] The company was again suspended from trade after they failed to address questions by the Australian Securities Exchange.[8]

The company appointed PriceWaterhouseCoopers to investigate their compliance and MacDonald later admitted less than half of the contracts previously announced had resulted in revenue.[31]

The company was at one stage facing three class actions, including a $300M suit lodged in the Federal Court where MacDonald is named as a defendant.[32][18] The Federal Court of Australia delivered its initial judgement on 23 May that the court had permanently stayed two of the three class actions in favor for GetSwift.[33] The company is contesting the accusation and has separately accused Squire Patton Boggs of overstating the claim to A$300M.[34][35]

On 27 February 2018 the Australian Securities Investment Commission lodged an investigation into the Company.[36][37][38]

On 26 April 2018 MacDonald stepped down as CEO, assuming the title of President and remaining a director of the company.[39][40][41]

In February 2019, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission announced it had commenced legal action against GetSwift and its principals, MacDonald and Hunter, for misleading claims about contracts with corporate clients for use of their product.[42]

In August 2022, GetSwift's former co-founder James Strauss launched legal action against Macdonald for misleading and deceptive conduct, accusing Macdonald of making several misleading statements that prevented Strauss from selling his stake in GetSwift after it listed on the Australian Securities exchange in 2016.[43]

References

  1. ^ "Team". GetSwift. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  2. ^ "Former Aussie tech star GetSwift in liquidation". Business News Australia. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  3. ^ Muroi, Millie (17 February 2023). "Former AFL player handed $1m fine, ban as GetSwift hit with penalties". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  4. ^ Lee, Justice Michael. "Judgement Order". Federal Court of Australia. Federal Court of Australia.
  5. ^ "'Unacceptable face of start-up capitalism': GetSwift fined $15m". Australian Financial Review. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  6. ^ "Financial Review Young Rich 2017". Financial Review. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  7. ^ "Meet the $100m ex-footballer disrupting FedEx". Financial Review. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  8. ^ a b "GetSwift suspends share trading on ASX". Financial Review. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  9. ^ a b "GetSwift shorts will keep at it". Financial Review. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  10. ^ "Macdonald officially becomes a Demon". Official AFL Website of the Melbourne Football Club. 15 December 2009. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
  11. ^ "Macdonald announces retirement". Official AFL Website of the Melbourne Football Club. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  12. ^ "Lion arrested for public nuisance". Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  13. ^ a b Danckert, Sarah (24 January 2018). "Tech company GetSwift's troubles could torpedo ex AFL player's fortune". The Age. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  14. ^ a b "GetSwift: too fast for its own good". Financial Review. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  15. ^ "Getswift shares placed in trading halt". Financial Review. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  16. ^ "GetSwift faces questions over major deals". NewsComAu. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  17. ^ a b "GetSwift suspended on secret Amazon deal". Financial Review. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  18. ^ a b "Class action moves in quickly on GetSwift". Financial Review. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  19. ^ "Squire Patton Boggs' $300m claim 'misleading' says GetSwift". AFR. 2018.
  20. ^ Heber, Alex (21 January 2015). "The Founder Of The Awesome 'Bring Me Beer' App Came Up With The Idea When His AFL Career Was Ending". Business Insider Australia. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  21. ^ "Liquorun leaps into Sydney market". Startup Smart. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  22. ^ "Liquorun Decision" (PDF). VCGLR.
  23. ^ "Joel MacDonald - CEO and co-founder of Swift | Ideas Hoist". Ideas Hoist. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  24. ^ Heber, Alex (2 June 2015). "This Aussie startup has signed a big deal with a US delivery company". Business Insider Australia. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  25. ^ "Getswift could be the start of something big". Livewire Markets. 1 March 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  26. ^ "Five Australian startups to watch in 2015". Startup Smart. 17 December 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  27. ^ "Former AFL star Joel MacDonald to raise $5m and list his start-up GetSwift". Financial Review. 31 October 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  28. ^ "Ex-AFL star Joel McDonald's GetSwift raises $24 million from Thorney, IFM and Regal". Financial Review. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  29. ^ "Announcements - ASX - Australian Securities Exchange". Australian Securities Exchange - www.asx.com.au. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  30. ^ "How Amazon doubled Young Rich Lister GetSwift CEO's wealth in two days". Financial Review. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  31. ^ "GetSwift plummets 55pc on reinstatement to ASX". Financial Review. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  32. ^ "GetSwift slapped with class action over allegations of misleading investors". CRN Australia. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  33. ^ "Update on class action proceedings" (PDF). ASX.
  34. ^ "GetSwift hits back". The Australian.
  35. ^ "Squire Patton Boggs' $300m claim 'misleading' says GetSwift". AFR.
  36. ^ "ASIC begins investigation into GetSwift". NewsComAu. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  37. ^ Danckert, Sarah (28 February 2018). "Joel Macdonald's GetSwift under ASIC investigation". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  38. ^ "GetSwift under investigation by ASIC, reports massive losses". Business News Australia. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  39. ^ "Corporate Legal Expert Joins GetSwift Board". The Wall Street Journal.
  40. ^ "Bane Hunter replaces Joel MacDonald as GetSwift CEO". Financial Review. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  41. ^ Pash, Chris (26 April 2018). "Joel MacDonald has stepped down as CEO of GetSwift". Business Insider Australia. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  42. ^ https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/asic-starts-legal-action-against-getswift-execs [dead link]
  43. ^ Koob, Cameron Houston, Simone Fox (9 August 2022). "Former Demon takes legal action against teammate over sharemarket loss". The Age. Retrieved 19 February 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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