Lendlease CEO Tony Lombardo Resigns to Return to Southeast Asia

Lendlease, the once-vaunted Australian property and infrastructure group, has confirmed that group chief executive officer Tony Lombardo will step down in August 2026, capping a turbulent chapter marked by shareholder unrest, weak financial performance and sweeping changes at the top of the company. 

The planned transition was announced on Thursday and comes as Lendlease hopes to establish the beginning of its next financial year on 1 July as an inflection point beyond which it can enter a renewed era of growth with the company having struggled since a shareholder revolt over its declining financial performance in 2024.

“Lendlease’s refreshed strategy is now embedded and FY 2027 is set to be an inflection point for the Group,” chairman John Gillam said in announcing the succession plan, framing Lombardo’s departure as a natural handover rather than a sudden break. The board has appointed an international executive search firm to identify a new chief executive officer and has said it will update the market as the process advances.

Lombardo, who has spent 18 years at Lendlease including the last five as chief executive, said the timing was right for new leadership. “Following the strategic reset and the foundations we have put in place for long-term growth, it is the appropriate moment for my family to set out on its next chapter,” he said, confirming plans to relocate to Southeast Asia for a new career opportunity.

Strategic Reset

Lombardo’s departure from Lendlease will be bringing him back to Southeast Asia after the company veteran had spent five years as cheif executive of the developer’s Asia business, based in Singapore, before becoming group CEO in 2021. The transition comes as Lendlease has been struggling to regain investor confidence and improve its finances since announcing a new strategy focused on its home market of Australia in 2024. 

Long-time chairman Lendlease chairman Michael Ullmer announced in 2024 that he would step down at the company’s annual meeting, following activist campaigns demanding a strategic overhaul and board renewal.

Under its new strategy Lendlease has stepped away from much of its overseas business, accelerated asset sales and concentrated on investment management, development and urban regeneration in core markets, particularly Australia and parts of Asia Pacific. The strategy also targeted the release of several billion dollars in capital and a reduction in gearing.

In the twelve months through 30 June 2025, Lendlease returned to statutory and operating profitability, supported by capital recycling, cost reductions and improved performance in its investments platform. Management has nevertheless acknowledged that earnings remain uneven, with several large projects expected to contribute more meaningfully only after completion.

Lendlease says it plans to consider both internal and external candidates in its search for a successor, with the board signalling a preference for leadership capable of restoring investor confidence while executing the strategy already in motion.

Asset Sales Continue

Lombardo’s resignation was announced just one day after news reports indicated that Lendlease is on the verge of striking a deal with local fund manager Cbus Property to recapitalise an A$2.4 billion ($1.7 billion) shopping centre fund, with Cbus effectively buying ownership stakes in four malls. 

Last month the company, together with Korea’s National Pension Service, sold a mall on New South Wales’ Central Coast to Melbourne-based Fawkner Property for A$895 million after selling a $83 million stake in a London office project to a pair of Japanese investors last year.