Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin is resigning after a series of major disasters for the company

Kelly Bayer Rosmarin has resigned as CEO of Optus following a series of major controversies under her leadership.

Rosmarin was only appointed CEO on April 1, 2020.

In September 2022, Optus suffered a data breach that affected 9.7 million current and former customers – more than a third of Australia’s population.

Earlier this month, the Optus network crashed, cutting off phone calls, text messages and internet access for 10 million customers and affecting hospitals, banks and trains that use their network.

Ms Bayer Rosmarin, 46, then created a PR disaster of her own when she went missing for seven hours as essential services and businesses struggled to cope.

While Ms Bayer Rosmarin refused to take center stage and interact with irate customers, a fleet of vehicles brought in luxury items such as throws, shrubs and furniture for a photography session to her $15 million mansion.

Even the CEO’s husband, Rodney, admitted that the photo session – organized for the architect renovating the house – was “unfortunate timing.”

Mr Rosmarin told Daily Mail Australia: ‘They hadn’t got around to photographing it yet and it was done today.

Ms Bayer Rosmarin was born and raised in South Africa, but moved to the US when she received a scholarship to the prestigious Stanford University.

She obtained a degree in industrial engineering and a master’s degree in management sciences, winning an award for being the best graduate.

After college, she moved to California to work in Silicon Valley at both established and startup software companies.

She subsequently worked as a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group and joined Commonwealth Bank in 2004, where she held several senior positions before being appointed to the bank’s board in December 2013.

She joined Optus as Deputy CEO on March 1, 2019 and became CEO exactly one year and one month later.