Katie Page

Kay Leslie "Katie" Page (born 1956)[1] is an Australian business executive and the CEO of retailer Harvey Norman. In 2015 she was ranked fourth on The Australian Financial Review's list of the "50 most powerful women in business". She is a backer of several professional sports and an active promoter of women in sports.

Early life and education

Page was born in Mareeba, Queensland, Australia.[1] She has three sisters.[1] Her father, a bank manager, relocated the family approximately every four years, and Katie and her sisters grew up in St George, Rockhampton, and Brisbane.[1] She graduated from Brisbane State High School in 1973[2] and planned to become a surveyor, but was discouraged by the low pay available then for women.[1] She moved to Sydney, posing as a 21-year-old. When she was 19, she competed in an "intelligence test" to raise funds for children with autism; Gerry Harvey was one of the judges. Six years later, Harvey offered her a position as an assistant at his new Harvey Norman store. Page worked in ad buying, sales, marketing, and publicity for the firm, and also helped Harvey syndicate his horses. In 1988, when Page was 32 and Harvey 49, they married.[1] She is Harvey's second wife.[3]

Career

Harvey Norman was founded in 1982 by Harvey and his partner, Ian Norman.[4] Page joined the first store in 1983 as an assistant[5] and in 1999 became CEO of the company.[4] Harvey is the executive chairman.[4][5]

Under Page's stewardship, Harvey Norman expanded into New Zealand in 1996, Singapore in 2000, Malaysia, Slovenia in 2003, and Ireland.[5] It entered online sales in 2001.[5] As of June 30, 2015, Harvey Norman operates 277 stores in eight countries, with revenues of $4.9 billion and net profit of $165 million.[4] Page's base salary was AUD$2.07 million in 2014.[6]

Other activities

Page is active as a backer of several professional sports. She co-owns, with Harvey, the Magic Millions Thoroughbred racehorse auction house,[1][4][5] along with four breeding studs and 1,000 racehorses.[1]

In 2004 Page was the first woman to be elected to the board of the National Rugby League (NRL).[1] She introduced the NRL's Women in League in 2005.[1] Harvey Norman sponsored the National Rugby League's State of Origin series from 1997 to 2012, and continues to sponsor the Women in League round and Indigenous All Stars match.[7]

Page is an active supporter of women in sports. For the 2013 Jeep Magic Millions 2YO Classic, she announced a special $500,000 prize to be divided among the first four horses passing the post that were owned or leased by women.[1][8] The special purse, called the Racing Women's Incentive Bonus, was offered again in 2014 and 2015.[9][10] Page also signed Zara Phillips as an ambassador for the Racing Women initiative.

In March 2015 Page announced the company's sponsorship of the Auburn Giants, a mostly female, Muslim Australian Football League team.[7] In September 2015 she announced the company's sponsorship of the all-female racecar driving team of Simona de Silvestro and Renee Gracie in the 2015 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.[11]

Page owned a share in the Byron at Byron Resort and Spa in New South Wales.[12] In 2015 she was developing M3565 at Main Beach, Queensland, a luxury residential project with seven boutique apartments averaging AUD$17,000 per square meter.[13][14]

Honours

In 2015 she was ranked 4th on The Australian Business Review's list of the "50 most powerful women in business".[5]

Personal

Page and Harvey have two children.[1][3] She is an avid badminton player.[1]

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References
  1. Bruce, Mike (8 January 2012). "Passions on the Field". The Sunday Mail. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  2. "Business Input" (PDF). Amicus. Brisbane State High School: 8. January 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  3. Cook, Craig (15 March 2013). "Harvey Norman co-founder Gerry Harvey is seeing the green shoots of the Australian economy". The Advertiser. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  4. "Asia's Power Businesswomen 2015". Forbes. 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  5. Korporaal, Glenda (20 February 2015). "50 most powerful women in business: 4. Katie Page". The Australian Business Review. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  6. Kruger, Colin (23 November 2014). "Harvey Norman CEO Katie Page 'a bargain' at $2.07m". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  7. Lehmann, John (19 March 2015). "Harvey Norman CEO Katie Page will sponsor the Auburn Giants­ AFL team". Herald Sun. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  8. "Race Series General Information". Magic Millions. 2014.
  9. Holloway, John (1 January 2015). "Magic Millions incentive for women catches on in a big way". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  10. Safe, Georgina (10 January 2015). "Magic Millions initiative encourages women racehorse owners". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  11. "Bathurst 1000: Harvey Norman to sponsor all-female V8 Supercars team". Fox Sports. 12 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  12. "Katie Page – The New Face of Retail". Women in Focus. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  13. Power, Emily (15 July 2015). "Fashion designer Alex Perry and businesswoman Katie Page release luxe apartments". Domain. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  14. Todd, Quentin (22 May 2014). "Katie Page reveals Main Beach boutique apartment M3565 as 'new age of luxury living'". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
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