The King William Street-headquartered business appointed chief financial and operations officer Simon Rabbitt as CEO on an interim basis today as it searches for someone more permanent.

Rabbitt will continue to fulfil the responsibilities of the CFOO role in tandem with the role of CEO, and he will be paid $300,000 per annum plus incentives for the period he holds the new temporary office.

Prior to joining Mighty Kingdom as CFOO in January this year, Rabbitt held positions as chief business officer for Rugby Australia and chief operating officer for FremantleMedia – Australia and Asia.

Mighty Kingdom said Rabbitt was the “architect of the company’s efforts in restructuring and executing on a sustainable business model”.

“Simon has led the management team’s efforts in the positive turnaround of the business over the past nine months,” Mighty Kingdom said.

“He will continue to fulfil the responsibilities of his current CFOO contract during the period of this interim appointment with the support of additional oversight at the board level.”

Former ABC boss and current Mighty Kingdom chair Michelle Guthrie welcomed Rabbitt’s appointment.

“Simon has made an incredible impact since he joined the Mighty Kingdom team with the company’s focus under his leadership delivering real results,” Guthrie said.

“His appointment as interim CEO will place the company in the best possible position to evaluate the options available to it going forward as we look to rebuild shareholder value.”

Rabbitt’s promotion comes after Mighty Kingdom hired lawyers to chase more than $2 million in settlement funds which it alleges are outstanding form a company founded by former CEO Yeend.

The gaming firm appointed specialist dispute resolution advisers LK Law in September to chase down the money it said was owed by Mighty Kingdom’s largest shareholder Gamestar Sutdios.

Mighty Kingdom said the funds “have not been forthcoming despite efforts to resolve the delays”.

However, in a statement sent to InDaily at the time, Yeend alleged Mighty Kingdom was in breach of its share subscription agreement with Gamestar Studios and that he had been trying to “get this deal completed for the sake of the game industry in Adelaide in good faith at all times”.

“Hence why I forced myself in as CEO for $1 a year in January to try and cut costs,” Yeend said in September.

“We will continue to work with the board and shareholders for the best outcome.”

Yeend was appointed as CEO on 3 May 2023, and resigned just four months later without much explanation from the Mighty Kingdom board. The company said it would “work with Mr Yeend in his role as chairman and CEO of Gamestar+ to resolve issues around outstanding obligations”.

InDaily approached Mighty Kingdom for an update on the legal situation but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

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