Who is Kelly Bayer Rosmarin? Wiki, Biography, Age, Husband, Net Worth, Education, Family
Kelly Bayer Rosmarin (born in 1977, Age: 46 years old) is the chief executive officer of Optus, the second-largest telecommunications company in Australia. She is also the CEO of Consumer Australia, a division of Singtel Group, the leading communications group in Asia. She has been in these roles since April 2020, after joining Optus as deputy CEO in March 2019.
Kelly Rosmarin is a respected senior executive with a diverse and impressive career spanning multiple industries and global markets. She has been named among the Top 25 Women in Asia Pacific Finance, the Top 10 Businesswomen in Australia, and the 50 Most Powerful Women in Australian Business. She is also a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE). In this article, we will explore Rosmarin’s age, wiki, net worth, salary, education, husband, family, and more.
Early Life and Education
Kelly Rosmarin was born in 1977 in South Africa. She moved to the United States when she was 17 years old, after earning a scholarship to study at Stanford University, one of the most prestigious institutions in the world.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering and a Master of Science in Management Science, with an Academic Excellence Award for being the top Masters graduate.
Rosmarin’s career began in Silicon Valley, where she gained exposure to start-up and established software companies. She developed her business acumen across various disciplines, such as product development, business development, marketing, M&A, and strategy.
Family Details
Kelly Rosmarin’s parents and siblings are not very well-known to the public, as she prefers to keep her personal life private. However, based on the available information, here is what we can learn about her family background.
Bayer Rosmarin’s father is Nicky Bayer, a South African businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and chairman of Bayer Group, a diversified conglomerate with interests in mining, energy, property, and technology. He is also the president of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, the umbrella body of the Jewish community in South Africa. He is a prominent supporter of various causes, such as education, health, human rights, and environmental protection.
Kelly Bayer Rosmarin’s mother is unknown, as she has not revealed her name or occupation to the media. However, it is likely that she is also from South Africa, and that she played an important role in Kelly’s upbringing and education.
Rosmarin has two siblings, a brother and a sister. Their names and ages are also not disclosed, but they are presumably younger than Kelly, who is the eldest child in the family. They are also believed to be living in Australia, where Kelly moved in 2004.
Religion & Ethnicity
Rosmarin’s family is of Jewish descent, and she follows the Jewish faith. She is a director of JCA, a non-profit organization that supports the Jewish community in New South Wales. She is also a member of the Stanford Australia Foundation, which provides scholarships to Australian students to study at Stanford University, where she graduated from.
Kelly Rosmarin’s family is a source of inspiration and support for her, as she has acknowledged in several interviews and speeches. She has also expressed her gratitude and admiration for her parents, who taught her the values of hard work, integrity, and generosity. She has also credited her siblings for being her best friends and confidants.
Career and Achievements
Kelly moved to Australia in 2004 and joined the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), one of the largest and most profitable banks in the country. She held several senior roles across the Institutional and Business Banking divisions, before being appointed to the Bank’s Executive in December 2013 as the Group Executive of Institutional Banking and Markets.
In this role, she was responsible for managing the bank’s relationships with major corporate, institutional, and government clients, as well as providing financial markets, capital raising, and transaction banking solutions.
Bayer Rosmarin left CBA in 2018 and joined Optus as Deputy CEO in March 2019. She was appointed as CEO of Optus and Consumer Australia in April 2020, succeeding Allen Lew, who became the CEO of Group Strategy and Business Development at Singtel.
As the CEO of Optus and Consumer Australia, Kelly Bayer oversees the company’s mobile, fixed, broadband, TV, and digital services, as well as its customer experience, marketing, sales, and network operations. She also leads the company’s transformation and innovation agenda, with a focus on delivering customer-centric and digital-first solutions.
Kelly Rosmarin has been instrumental in driving Optus’ growth and performance in a highly competitive and dynamic market. Under her leadership, Optus has achieved several milestones, such as:
- Launching Australia’s first 5G home broadband service and expanding its 5G network coverage to more than 1,200 sites across the country.
- Introducing Optus Living Network, a smart and adaptive network that leverages artificial intelligence, automation, and analytics to optimize customer experience and network performance.
- Partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to offer cloud, edge computing, and 5G solutions to enterprise and government customers.
- Launching Optus Loop, a cloud-based unified communications platform that enables small and medium businesses to communicate and collaborate seamlessly.
- Acquiring Amaysim, Australia’s largest mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), and launching Gomo, a new digital-only sub-brand, to expand its customer base and market share in the low-cost segment.
- Winning multiple awards and recognitions, such as the Canstar Blue Award for Most Satisfied Customers for NBN Providers, the Roy Morgan Mobile Phone Service Provider of the Month, and the Australian Financial Review BOSS Most Innovative Companies Award.
Kelly Rosmarin is also actively involved in various board and advisory roles, demonstrating her commitment to making a positive impact in different domains. She is currently a non-executive director of Airtel Africa plc, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services in Africa, and REA Group, a multinational digital advertising company that operates Australia’s leading property websites.
She is also a member of Chief Executive Women, an organization that represents over 650 of Australia’s most senior and distinguished women leaders, and a director of JCA, a non-profit organization that supports the Jewish community in New South Wales.
Bayer Rosmarin was previously a board member of Openpay, a buy now, pay later (BNPL) company, and the Football Federation of Australia (FFA), the governing body of soccer in Australia. She also served on the University of New South Wales Engineering Faculty Advisory Board, the Australian Government’s FinTech Advisory Group, and the NSW Government Digital Advisory Panel.
Kelly Bayer Rosmarin’s Married Life, Husband & Children
Kelly Bayer is married to Rodney Rosmarin, a former executive at CBA and the founder and CEO of Rosmarin Capital, a private investment firm.
They have two daughters and live in Vaucluse, a suburb in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Kelly Rosmarin is active on social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram, where she shares her insights, achievements, and personal interests.
Wiki/BIO
| Name | Kelly Bayer Rosmarin |
| Age | 46 years old (as of 2023) |
| Birth Place | South Africa |
| Lives in | Vaucluse, Australia |
| Gender | Female |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Husband | Rodney Rosmarin |
| Kids | Two daughters |
| Parents | Father: Nicky Bayer; Mother: Unknown |
| Siblings | Two |
| Height | 162 cm |
| Eyes | Brown |
| Hair | Blonde |
| Education | Stanford University |
| Career | Optus – CEO; Singtel – CEO of Consumer Australia; CBA – Group Executive of Institutional Banking and Markets; BCG – Management Consultant |
| Net worth | AUD 47 million |
| Salary | Unknown |
| Social media | LinkedIn: kbr Facebook: kellybr Instagram: kbrspace |
| Homepage | newsunzip.com |
Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, from lauded executive to public enemy
Kelly Rosmarin, the CEO of Optus, has faced a barrage of criticism and legal action over the past year, following a series of scandals that have tarnished her reputation and the company’s image. Once hailed as one of the top women in Asia Pacific finance and Australian business, Bayer Rosmarin now faces the challenge of restoring trust and confidence in Optus, Australia’s second-largest telecommunications provider.
The network outage debacle
The most recent and damaging blow to Bayer Rosmarin’s leadership came on November 8, 2023, when Optus suffered a massive network outage that affected more than 10 million customers across the country. The outage lasted for more than 12 hours, disrupting phone calls, text messages, internet access, banking services, transport networks, and emergency services. Customers were left frustrated and angry, venting their complaints on social media and demanding compensation.
The cause of the outage was initially unclear, with Optus blaming a “technical network fault” and promising to investigate the issue. However, it later emerged that the outage was triggered by a cyberattack that exploited a vulnerability in Optus’ network equipment, supplied by Chinese vendor Huawei. The attack was allegedly carried out by a hacker group known as “The Dark Army”, which claimed responsibility and demanded a ransom from Optus.
Bayer Rosmarin was widely criticized for her handling of the crisis, as she failed to communicate effectively with customers, regulators, and the media. She did not issue a public apology until the next day and offered only a $100 credit to affected customers, which many considered inadequate and insulting. She also refused to answer questions about the security of Optus’ network and its relationship with Huawei, which has been banned from supplying 5G equipment in Australia due to national security concerns.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched an investigation into Optus’ conduct, alleging that the company breached its obligations under the Telecommunications Act and the Consumer Law. The ACCC accused Optus of failing to provide reliable and secure services, misleading customers about the cause and extent of the outage, and offering insufficient remedies and compensation. The ACCC is seeking civil penalties, injunctions, and corrective orders from the Federal Court.
The third-party billing scandal
The network outage was not the first time that Optus faced legal action from the ACCC this year. In February 2023, the Federal Court ordered Optus to pay a $10 million penalty for misleading customers over digital purchases, such as games, ringtones, and other content, that were incurred through its third-party billing service.
Optus admitted that it made false or misleading representations in contravention of the ASIC Act, and agreed to apply jointly with the ACCC for orders from the Federal Court. The ACCC alleged that Optus did not properly inform customers that the third-party billing service was a default setting on their accounts and that they would be billed directly by Optus for any content bought through the service, even unintentionally.
Optus also admitted that it knew from at least April 2014 that many customers were being billed for third-party content that they had mistakenly or unknowingly signed up for. The third-party billing service allowed a purchase or subscription to be confirmed and charged to a customer’s bill after just one or two clicks on a web browser. Despite receiving over 600,000 inquiries about the service, Optus failed to put in place appropriate identity verification safeguards and referred customers who sought to query the charges to third parties. Many customers then encountered significant difficulties in canceling the purchases and obtaining refunds from third parties.
The $10 million penalty was one of the highest imposed by the Court after ACCC action on a consumer matter and equaled the penalty paid by Telstra in 2022 after it admitted to similar conduct with its Premium Direct Billing service. The ACCC said that Optus’ conduct was “simply unacceptable” and deserved a significant penalty.
About 240,000 Optus customers have so far been refunded. The ACCC understands Optus has paid about $8 million in refunds and third-party providers another $13 million. Optus has committed to contacting potentially impacted customers who complained about the services and have not already received a refund, as well as those customers whom Optus identifies as having been incorrectly charged.
The NBN speed claims case
Another legal dispute that Optus faced this year involved its claims about the speed and performance of its NBN plans. In June 2023, the ACCC sued Optus for allegedly misleading customers about the need to move to the NBN.
The ACCC alleged that Optus sent emails to about 138,000 of its mobile customers, telling them that their existing broadband service would be “disconnected very soon” and that they had to move to the NBN if they wanted to keep using Optus services. The ACCC claimed that these statements were false or misleading, as Optus had no reasonable basis to believe that the customers’ existing services would be disconnected in the near future and that the customers could choose to keep their current service or switch to any NBN provider, not just Optus.
The ACCC also alleged that Optus created a false sense of urgency by telling customers that they had as little as 30 days to move to the NBN, when in fact they had much longer. The ACCC said that Optus’ conduct was “unacceptable” and “exploited” customers’ confusion about the NBN migration process.
Optus admitted to the ACCC’s allegations and agreed to pay a $6.4 million penalty, subject to the Court’s approval. Optus also apologized to the affected customers and offered them the option to cancel their NBN contract without penalty. Optus said that it had made an error and that it had cooperated with the ACCC’s investigation.
The impact on Optus and Bayer Rosmarin
The legal disputes that Optus has faced this year have had a significant impact on the company’s reputation, customer satisfaction, and financial performance. Optus has lost market share and revenue to its competitors, especially Telstra, which has capitalized on Optus’ woes by offering superior network coverage, reliability, and security.
Optus has also faced increased scrutiny and pressure from regulators, politicians, and the public, who have questioned its ability to provide quality and affordable services to Australians.
Kelly Bayer Rosmarin is the CEO of Optus and Consumer Australia, a respected senior executive, and a prominent leader in the Australian business community. She has a remarkable career spanning multiple industries and global markets and has been recognized for her achievements and contributions.
She is also a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, innovation and technology, and social and environmental causes. Here is a summary of Rosmarin’s age, wiki, net worth, salary, education, husband, family, and more
