Friend,

Joe Aston’s Rampart has now twice broken a spectacular “recovery” and thus effected the start of a reputation recovery. First, it was Oliver Curtis, then yesterday we had Hamish Douglass’s return, with a redemptive arc that had it all including a coming out story. 

Curtis is the classic hard case: convicted insider trader → public disgrace → prison. Not coincidentally, Curtis is now gloriously back in business, with an IPO pitch and a story big enough to make us look again. 

Douglass is different, but the reputational mechanics are similar. The downfall started with a trickle of bad news from Magellan, then a series of nasty rumours circulating among the private school and finance types. There followed a very public corporate and personal implosion. Magellan blew up. Douglass disappeared. Now he’s back, telling his story with a familiar reputation rehab formula: candour, vulnerability, explanation, survival, return. 

Hollywood invented, and remain the pioneers, of this formula. Hugh Grant set the gold standard. At the height of his sex symbol popularity in the 90s, Grant was caught in engaged in “lewd conduct” with a sex worker. In a PR horror movie, Grant’s face hit world media in LA police mug shots. The public fall looked terminal. Instead, he fronted up, admitted it, took the hit, and kept working until the scandal became trivia not an obituary.

That’s the point. When you think your career or life is over, sometimes it isn’t. It’s up to you…  

The reputation rehab formula is pretty simple. 

First: a public disgrace…

Horrible, but the precondition for a comeback story. 

Second: full acknowledgement, not permanent hiding

This has to be real recognition of the damage, the weakness, and the depths reached. Usually in that comes the now-familiar traumatic family backstory. Call me cynical, but this is now standard in reputation recovery: part confession, part explanation, how the wheels came off. 

Third: someone smart rewrites the story arc 

Usually a former celebrity PR, crisis adviser or fixer. Or BlueChip, if you happen to be in financial services. 

Fourth: extraordinary resilience

Because this strategy can go horribly wrong at any minute. If you do it well, some people will say awful things about you forever. On the other hand, if you’re already reputationally rock bottom, the only direction is up. 

The lesson: reputation rehabilitation is possible. Come out, stand up, say something real, and give the world something new to look at. Repeat. 

And spare a thought for Joe Aston. If men in leadership stop blowing themselves up, what is he going to use to drive Rampart subscriptions? 

Best,

Carden | she/her (here’s why that matters @work)

On our radar:

The other big story this week

Time to end welfare for the wealthy, says big business

The Business Council of Australia is calling for means testing and tighter controls on government spending, arguing that subsidies like the NDIS, Medicare, energy rebates and home batteries increasingly benefit higher-income households.

Chalmers says Budget 'hostage' to Middle East conflict

Jim Chalmers says the May Budget is being heavily shaped by the Middle East conflict, warning it is already pushing up costs for Australians and leaving economic planning “hostage” to global instability. 

The appointment of Apple’s new CEO raises some big questions

Apple’s leadership shift to John Ternus is drawing investor attention, with Warren Buffett and super funds watching closely for a clearer AI strategy amid growing pressure from competitors. 

Hamish Douglass on coming out, PTSD and his mistakes at Magellan

Magellan co-founder Hamish Douglass has reflected on his mental health crisis, coming out, and the collapse of Magellan amid market losses, rumours, and PTSD, saying he ultimately hit breaking point but is now rebuilding his life and perspective. 

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This week's market movers

Big plays, bold bets, and (occasional) unconfirmed speculation

Tech giants ready to fight in Australia’s $100b data centre war– Big tech is driving a $100bn Australian data centre boom, with hyperscalers locking in AI contracts and intensifying competition for capital, power, and sites.

CGT like it’s 1999: Chalmers leans towards scrapping Howard-Costello tax discount– Jim Chalmers is considering scrapping the 50% CGT discount and reverting to the pre-1999 inflation-based system as part of budget housing reforms. 

ASX shifts equities clearing into the cloud as new CHESS goes live – ASX has moved its equities clearing system (CHESS) to the cloud via AWS to boost speed, capacity, and reliability after years of delays and failed upgrades.

Millions of Australians own a bit of ChatGPT (and don’t know it) – More than 3 million Australians have indirect exposure to AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI through superannuation investments, reflecting growing institutional backing of the sector.