Vinyl Group Hires ByteDance Exec as COO to Run Scaled Operations Post-Acquisition
Vinyl Group reshapes executive team following Val Morgan Digital completion
Vinyl Group has announced three simultaneous executive appointments following the completion of its Val Morgan Digital acquisition, signalling deliberate capability scaling as the adaptive media and music technology company positions for larger-scale operations. The appointments, effective immediately, establish dedicated senior leadership across operations, finance and integration.
The restructure sees the creation of a new Chief Operating Officer role, an internal promotion to Chief Financial Officer, and the transition of the outgoing CFO to a purpose-built Chief Integration Officer position focused on post-acquisition synergy extraction.
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New COO brings global digital media operations experience
Jonathon Oake has been appointed Chief Operating Officer, bringing more than 20 years of experience across media, telecommunications and technology businesses. Most recently, Mr Oake served as Global Head of Publisher Operations and Solutions (B2B) at ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company.
In that role, he was responsible for global operational execution across go-to-market strategy, partner operations, compliance and delivery, supporting publisher monetisation initiatives across more than 50 markets. Prior to ByteDance, Mr Oake held senior leadership roles at Optus and Foxtel, including Director of Strategy, Partnerships and Revenue at Optus, where he was accountable for end-to-end operational delivery across product, distribution, partnerships and commercial outcomes for Optus’ Content business unit.
As Chief Operating Officer, Mr Oake’s responsibilities will include:
- Group-wide operational execution and performance frameworks
- Systems and process optimisation across the expanded portfolio
- Translating Board-approved strategy into scalable commercial outcomes
- Operational delivery across the diversified publishing and platforms divisions
The operational expertise from a global technology giant signals ambition to professionalise execution as portfolio complexity increases following the Val Morgan Digital integration.
Internal promotion elevates Financial Controller to CFO
Michael Globan has been appointed Chief Financial Officer, promoted from his current role as Financial Controller at Vinyl Group. Mr Globan is a Chartered Accountant (CA ANZ) with more than a decade of experience across the music, media, creative and professional services industries.
Most recently, he served as Finance Director at Warner Music Group in London within the WMX division, where he oversaw finance operations outside the United States across retail, licensing, touring and direct-to-fan businesses. Mr Globan has previously held senior finance roles at Dentsu and Ernst & Young, with experience spanning global reporting consolidation, statutory audit oversight, deal appraisal, finance transformation and enterprise systems implementation.
As Chief Financial Officer, Mr Globan’s scope includes:
- Group financial management, reporting and compliance
- Capital management and governance frameworks
- Technical accounting oversight across expanded operations
- Commercial finance leadership for acquisition integration
The internal promotion provides institutional knowledge of Vinyl Group’s existing operations whilst the Warner Music Group background adds credibility for managing the financial complexity of the company’s diversified music, media and technology portfolio.
Outgoing CFO transitions to dedicated integration role
Jorge Nigaglioni will transition from Chief Financial Officer to a newly created Chief Integration Officer role. Mr Nigaglioni has played a central role in the company’s recent growth and acquisition activity, overseeing capital management, financial governance and integration planning during a period of significant expansion.
In his new role, Mr Nigaglioni will lead post-acquisition integration across the group, with responsibility for operational alignment, systems consolidation, synergy realisation and ensuring disciplined execution of integration milestones across newly acquired businesses.
Creating a dedicated integration executive suggests management expects material synergy opportunities requiring focused leadership, separating the complexity of merger integration from ongoing CFO duties during the critical post-acquisition period.
What is post-merger integration and why does it matter for investors?
Acquisitions create value on paper through deal structure and strategic rationale, but require deliberate integration to realise synergies in practice. Synergy realisation refers to combining operations to reduce costs or increase revenue beyond what the standalone businesses could achieve independently.
This might include consolidating technology platforms, eliminating duplicate roles, cross-selling products to combined customer bases, or negotiating better supplier terms through increased scale. Companies often underperform acquisition targets because integration is complex, resource-intensive and easily deprioritised when the CFO must simultaneously manage ongoing financial operations.
By separating integration from CFO duties, Vinyl Group has created a structure that reduces execution risk during the critical period when acquisition benefits must be delivered. A dedicated integration leader can focus exclusively on milestone tracking, operational alignment and synergy extraction without competing priorities.
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Expanded leadership positions Vinyl Group for scaled execution
The appointments establish operational, financial and integration capabilities under dedicated senior leadership as Vinyl Group’s portfolio expands beyond its publishing division to include platforms and digital media assets. The publishing division operates Concrete Playground, Mediaweek and Tone Deaf, and holds Australian licences for Rolling Stone, Variety, Refinery29, POPSUGAR, BuzzFeed and Tasty, and LADbible Group brands. The platforms division includes Vinyl.com, Vampr (a social-professional network with 1.6 million creators in over 190 countries), and Serenade.
Josh Simons, CEO and Executive Director
“The completion of the Val Morgan Digital acquisition represents a significant step change in scale for Vinyl Group. These appointments ensure we have the operational, integration and financial leadership capability required to execute at that scale.”
| Role | Executive | Background Highlight |
|---|---|---|
| Chief Operating Officer | Jonathon Oake | ByteDance Global Publisher Operations |
| Chief Financial Officer | Michael Globan | Warner Music Group Finance Director |
| Chief Integration Officer | Jorge Nigaglioni | Former Vinyl Group CFO |
The leadership restructure provides infrastructure for managing increased portfolio complexity following the Val Morgan Digital acquisition. Dedicated operational, financial and integration capability positions the company to extract synergies and execute Board-approved strategy across its expanded publishing and platforms businesses.
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