Alex Waislitz breaks silence on allegations facing media mogul
Updated ,first published
Media mogul Antony “The Cat” Catalano’s corporate and property empire began to unravel Monday, just days after he was charged with assault, false imprisonment and threatening to kill a woman.
The former Domain chief executive and boss of dozens of regional newspapers has taken his $30 million Melbourne penthouse off the market, selling agencies, citing “sensitivities” over the alleged assault.
This imprint had previously reported that police went to the penthouse of the Saint Moritz building in St Kilda on Thursday evening and returned there after the entrepreneur was released on bail at a hearing on Friday.
Hours before the alleged attack, Catalano was in good spirits and was celebrating his 40th birthday at a Greek restaurant in Richmond with his wife, Stefanie Catalano, whose relationship with the media mogul has been tumultuous. One source described the incident as “pretty wild” and many in the crowd dropped shots.
The reversal in Catalano’s sales plans comes just hours after he stepped down as executive chairman of the newspaper business and as a director of two publicly traded companies, Keybridge Capital and Yowie Group.
In Wategos, the affluent Byron Bay suburb where Catalano and his family have lived for years, his colleagues were devastated.
In the increasingly exclusive northern NSW town full of celebrities, art dealers and tech entrepreneurs, Catalano is best known as the owner of popular seaside resort and restaurant Rae’s.
“We’re all in no-comment mode, man,” said friend Michael Ibrahim, who was operating a coffee cart outside Rae’s.
Catalano’s other known associates while in Byron Bay were also tight-lipped and declined opportunities to comment on the allegations, either via intercoms or on the doorsteps of their multimillion-dollar homes.
Catalano, who is executive chairman of Australian Community Media and owner of secretive group View Media, was accused in court by Victoria Police of dragging a woman by her hair and ankles around an apartment and swinging a clothes iron at her head in an attack that allegedly left her with a fractured coccyx.
He was released on bail on Friday and made a statement shortly afterwards saying he would immediately check into a hospital. rehabilitation facility.
As Catalano waited for a rehab center to open on Monday, the repercussions of the assault allegations began to show. His six-bedroom, seven-bathroom apartment in St Kilda, originally listed last year with hopes of selling for $33 million to $36 million, has been pulled from the market.
When it was first listed, it was hoped it would break its own suburb record in 2019 when Catalano bought it off-plan for $30 million.
But even before the accusations were made, hopes that the record would be broken for Catalano had faded after marketing for the penthouse showed a revised guidance of $29.95 million.
Meanwhile, Catalano’s business partner at ACM, Alex Waislitz, released a statement saying all staff at their firm will be “supported and listened to” and that the firms will prioritize the long-term interests of their employees and partners.
The stable of newspapers at ACM, which the couple bought from Nine, which owns this imprint, for $125 million, includes: Tthe Canberra Times And Newcastle Herald.
“The immediate priority is the welfare of the employees and all stakeholders of Australian Community Media and View Media Group,” Waislitz said. “Both companies will ensure that all employees are supported and heard.”
This imprint reported that there were rumors of a potential sale of the Community Media business. Waislitz did not address the issue directly, but said both he and the View are strong organizations with experienced teams that will lead them in Catalano’s absence.
“Both companies will continue to protect their long-term interests, employees, partners and other stakeholders while maintaining integrity and governance practices,” Waislitz said.
“My thoughts are with everyone affected by this incident.”
Catalano also resigned as managing director of financial services group Keybridge Capital and children’s chocolate maker Yowie Group.
“This leave relates to personal matters regarding Mr. Catalano that are currently before the courts,” Keybridge Capital said in a statement. Yowie Group, of which Keybridge is the majority shareholder, also made the same statement.
Catalano owns a 50 percent stake in ACM; Waislitz, the billionaire investor, philanthropist and former vice-chairman of the Collingwood Football Club, owns the remainder through his Thorney Investment Group. Under their ownership, ACM embarked on an aggressive cost-cutting drive with several rounds of layoffs and vowed to phase out print production on several regional titles.
Despite ongoing controversy over the sale of the ACM books, Catalano failed to find a buyer, although he offered a deal in 2024 to radio company Southern Cross Austereo, which had recently merged with Seven West Media.
ACM newspapers also ran ads for Catalano and Waislitz’s digital classifieds business, View Media; This company recorded a net loss of $23 million, according to the latest financial documents filed with the corporate regulator.
Waislitz, who was traveling in the United States when news of Catalano’s arrest broke, was recently involved in two civil lawsuits. In December, Waislitz agreed to pay $325 million to his ex-wife Heloise Pratt, the daughter of cardboard baron Richard Pratt, as part of a deal struck on the eve of a trial that allowed her to retain control of Thorney Investments.
He was also drawn into a Victorian Supreme Court fight between his fiancée Rebekah Behbahani and her sister. The Real Housewives of Melbourne star Venus Behbahani.
On Sunday, this imprint reported that Stefanie Catalano was shaken by the accusations against her husband.
“I’m really not ready. I’m dealing with a lot of things with my family right now,” he said, adding that he did not want to comment further on the matter.
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Kishor Napier-Raman is senior business writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He previously worked as a CBD columnist and reporter in the federal parliament press gallery.Connect with: X or email.
Lucy Macken is an investigative reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect with: X or email.
