Gillon McLachlan: Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Tabcorp Holdings

Gillon McLachlan is Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Tabcorp Holdings, Australia’s largest wagering and gaming company. He took the role on 5 August 2024, first as an observer while regulatory approvals were pending. He was formally confirmed as MD and CEO from 31 January 2025. McLachlan succeeded Adam Rytenskild, who resigned in March 2024 after allegations of inappropriate workplace language toward a female executive.

He arrived with no background in gambling. For nearly a decade he ran the Australian Football League, Australia’s most powerful sporting code. Before that, he spent 14 years building its commercial and broadcasting operations. That made his move to Tabcorp one of the most closely watched appointments in Australian corporate life. It put a sports administrator in charge of a listed gambling company. Tabcorp had just posted a $1.4 billion statutory loss and scrapped its own recovery plan.

Gillon McLachlan’s Executive Career Timeline at Tabcorp

McLachlan’s path to the top job ran through nearly two years of change at AFL House and Tabcorp alike.

• June 2024 – Tabcorp announced McLachlan as its incoming Managing Director and CEO. The search had run since Rytenskild’s resignation three months earlier.
• 5 August 2024 – McLachlan began at Tabcorp in an observer capacity. This was standard process while regulators reviewed the wagering licensee’s change of chief executive. Bruce Akhurst continued as Executive Chairman during this period.
• September 2024 – Brett Chenoweth replaced Akhurst as Tabcorp Chairman.
• 31 January 2025 – McLachlan was formally appointed Managing Director and CEO once all regulatory approvals cleared. Akhurst retired from the Tabcorp board the same day and ceased as Executive Director.
• May 2026 – Financial crimes regulator AUSTRAC opened a formal enforcement investigation into Tabcorp’s anti-money laundering compliance. It is the most serious regulatory challenge of McLachlan’s tenure so far.
• August 2026 – Tabcorp reported FY26 results showing a 26.5% rise in statutory net profit. The company also announced a $267 million agreement to acquire wagering technology company BetMakers.

McLachlan holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Adelaide and a Bachelor of Laws from Melbourne University. He completed both degrees before joining the AFL.

Before Tabcorp, McLachlan spent his entire executive career at the AFL. He joined in 2000 as a strategic planning consultant. He was appointed General Manager of Commercial Operations in 2003, then picked up broadcasting and major-projects responsibilities in 2006. He became Chief Operating Officer in 2008, overseeing broadcasting, digital media, fixturing, and stadium infrastructure. He was promoted to Deputy CEO in December 2012. He was named CEO on 30 April 2014, succeeding Andrew Demetriou. He held the post until October 2023, when Andrew Dillon took over.

His AFL tenure is best remembered for three things. He launched the AFLW competition in 2017, three years ahead of the league’s original timeline. He negotiated a $2.5 billion broadcast deal in 2016, then a $4.5 billion deal in 2022. The latter is the largest media rights contract in Australian sports history. And he steered the competition through the financial shock of the 2020 COVID-19 season suspension.

Why Gillon McLachlan’s Appointment Matters

McLachlan’s move from football administrator to gambling-company CEO is unusual on its own terms. But the context he inherited makes it more consequential still. Tabcorp had cycled through leadership instability, a governance-driven CEO exit, and a disastrous financial year, all within months.

• Rytenskild resigned amid workplace-conduct allegations after roughly two years in the role.
• Tabcorp reported a $1.4 billion statutory net loss for FY2023–24. Impairment charges against its wagering units, commercial contracts, and abandoned technology projects drove the result.
• The board scrapped its TAB25 strategy shortly after McLachlan’s hiring was announced. That strategy had targeted 30% online wagering market share and a 10% return on investment.
• Tabcorp’s chairmanship changed hands from Akhurst to Chenoweth within weeks of McLachlan starting. That gave him a new board sponsor early in his tenure.

McLachlan’s appointment signals that Tabcorp’s board prioritised commercial credibility over gambling-industry experience. His record on the AFL’s broadcast deals, and steering it through COVID-19, was read as evidence of steady hands under strain. Whether that experience translates to a regulated gambling operator facing an active financial-crimes investigation is the open question. It’s the one now shaping how his tenure gets judged.

Regulatory Context Facing Gillon McLachlan

Tabcorp operates under a patchwork of state wagering, gaming, and media licences. McLachlan has run the company through its most serious regulatory challenge since a landmark money-laundering case a decade ago.

• March 2017 – A Federal Court ruling ordered Tabcorp to pay a then-record $45 million penalty. AUSTRAC had found the company breached anti-money-laundering laws 108 times over five years, well before McLachlan’s tenure.
• December 2023 – Tabcorp Wagering (VIC) was awarded a new 20-year wagering and betting licence in Victoria, effective August 2024. McLachlan now operates under this licence as CEO.
• May 2026 – AUSTRAC notified Tabcorp that it had opened a formal enforcement investigation. The regulator cited “serious concerns” about the company’s ability to manage money-laundering and terrorism-financing risks.
• August 2026 – Tabcorp executives, including its head of government affairs, gave evidence to a federal gambling-harms inquiry. Days later, the company confirmed its BetMakers acquisition.

AUSTRAC has said the investigation remains at an early stage. Every outcome is still open, including the possibility that no further action follows. Ratings agency Fitch has called the probe Tabcorp’s main near-term financial risk. It warns that penalties, remediation costs, or legal expenses could weigh on cash flow if the matter escalates. McLachlan has said uplifting the company’s risk capability is part of the broader transformation he was hired to run. Tabcorp’s board has committed to cooperating with the regulator as the investigation continues.

Frequently Asked Questions About Gillon McLachlan

Who is Gillon McLachlan, CEO of Tabcorp?

Gillon McLachlan is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Tabcorp Holdings, Australia’s largest wagering and gaming company. He took the role in August 2024 and was formally confirmed in January 2025. Before that, he spent nearly a decade as Chief Executive of the Australian Football League. He now leads Tabcorp through a financial turnaround and an active AUSTRAC investigation.

How did Gillon McLachlan become CEO of Tabcorp?

Tabcorp’s board announced McLachlan as its incoming CEO in June 2024, following the resignation of Adam Rytenskild that March. McLachlan began in an observer role on 5 August 2024 while regulatory approvals for the licensee’s leadership change were processed. He formally took over as Managing Director and CEO on 31 January 2025.

What is the most newsworthy fact about Gillon McLachlan’s time at Tabcorp?

Since May 2026, Tabcorp has been under a formal AUSTRAC enforcement investigation into its anti-money-laundering compliance. AUSTRAC cited “serious concerns” about the company’s risk management, and Tabcorp’s share price dropped sharply on the news. The investigation remains at an early stage, with no penalty determined as of Tabcorp’s August 2026 results.

What was Gillon McLachlan’s career before Tabcorp?

McLachlan spent his entire prior executive career at the AFL, joining in 2000 as a strategic planning consultant. He rose through commercial, broadcasting, and operations roles before becoming Deputy CEO in 2012. He served as AFL Chief Executive from April 2014 to October 2023. In that time he launched AFLW and struck two record-breaking broadcast rights deals.

Is Gillon McLachlan still CEO of Tabcorp?

Yes. As of Tabcorp’s FY26 results, released in August 2026, Gillon McLachlan remains Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. He continues to lead Tabcorp’s turnaround strategy, including its proposed BetMakers acquisition, while the AUSTRAC investigation runs its course. No leadership change has been announced, and the board has not signalled any plan to replace him.

Read more about the executives shaping Australia’s gambling industry on our executives hub.

Gambling Executive Sources

Career timeline

• Gillon McLachlan formally appointed Managing Director and CEO of Tabcorp after receiving regulatory approvals – IAG
• Gillon McLachlan Appointed as Managing Director And CEO of TabCorp – Ministry of Sport
• Gillon McLachlan, CEO, Australian Football League | COMPPS
• AFL Debate Club: What is Gillon McLachlan’s defining achievement as AFL CEO? | ESPN
• Emotional Gill resigns, League begins search for new CEO | AFL

Why this appointment matters

• Tabcorp begins new leadership era under Gillon McLachlan | SBC News
• Gillon McLachlan appointed as Tabcorp CEO | Gambling Insider

Regulatory context

• AUSTRAC commences enforcement investigation into Tabcorp on concerns around AML compliance – IAG
• Tabcorp’s BetMakers acquisition credit neutral, AUSTRAC probe remains key risk: Fitch | AGB
• How Tabcorp’s $267m BetMakers deal is also a bet on AUSTRAC | Capital Brief
• Enforcement actions taken | AUSTRAC
• State-awarded licences | vgccc.vic.gov.au
• Tabcorp’s future success hangs on regulatory outcomes | Next.io

Background

• Gillon McLachlan – Wikipedia