Andrew Pridham
Andrew Pridham (Born 24 August 1966) is an Australian investment banker. He is Chief Executive Officer of the Australian banking division of New York headquartered, and NYSE listed Moelis & Company. He is also Chairman of AFL Club the Sydney Swans.[1]
Originally from Adelaide he was previously Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking, Australasia at global investment bank UBS. He was appointed as Managing Director at 28. He spend several years working in London and Singapore in the position of global head of real estate also at UBS before returning to Australia in retirement aged 34.[2]
After a brief retirement he founded a boutique investment banking business called First Provident. In 2004 JPMorgan acquired First Provident and Pridham was appointed as its Head of Investment Banking and later Executive Chairman. In 2009 he left JPMorgan to establish the Australian arm of US Investment Bank Moelis & Company. Moelis & Company Australia is a 50/50 joint venture where Australian executives, including Pridham, own 50% of the business.
Immediately upon his return to Australia in 2004 he was appointed to the board of the Sydney Swans. In 2013 he was appointed as its Chairman. In his first season as Chairman the Sydney Swans finished minor Premiers and played off for the 2014 Premiership only to be soundly defeated by Hawthorn. Pridham has at times been an outspoken critic of what he sees as the excessive voice of some Melbourne based AFL clubs, and in particular Collingwood's Eddie McGuire.[3] In 2015 Pridham found himself at the centre of a major national controversy relating to the racially inspired booing of Sydney Swans champion player Adam Goodes. Pridham was highly outspoken, condemning what he saw as blatant racism. He made a number of strong speeches on the issue and was widely quoted in the press defending Goodes and chiding those he saw as being racist, disrespectful or downplaying the significance of the issue of racism in Australian society.[4]
