NewLease co-founder Douglas Tutus passes away unexpectedly

The co-founder and group managing director of cloud distributor NewLease "unexpectedly and tragically" passed away on the weekend.

Douglas Tutus co-founded the company with Dawn Edmonds in 2003 and led it to become one of the largest cloud-focused distributors in the country.

Its vendors include Microsoft, Citrix, Trend Micro, Veeam, VMware, Red Hat and Never Fail.

In December, the company announced a reverse takeover of publicly listed shell company FRR Corporation, in a bid to float on the ASX. The new entity will be rebranded as Rhype.

Tutus was in Canada to make investor presentations as part of the upcoming public listingwhen he "unexpectedly and tragically passed away", according to a statement from the company.

NewLease praised Tutus as "an entrepreneur, a charismatic leader of people, a visionary, and a great friend".

"He had the vision to see opportunities and act on them fearlessly and without hesitation. He was also a great teacher, leading by example and uniting his contemporaries.

"Perhaps Doug’s greatest gift is that he has enabled those that worked with him to build their own vision and draw on their individual strengths to be the best they can be. He had great faith in people and saw their potential to succeed even when they could not see it in themselves," read the statement.

According to another statement published to the ASX, "The board of FRR was deeply shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of Mr Tutus and would like to extend our sincerest condolences to his family, friends and his colleagues. Mr Tutus co-founded NewLease in 2003, was instrumental in the company's development and was an energetic leader and mentor to many. He will be missed by all."

A date is yet to be set for the service.  

Public listing

The boards of NewLease and FRR have "unanimously agreed" to proceed with the merger and float.

FRR's executive chairman, Mike Hill will, had been intending to become non-executive chairman but will instead retain his role.

Dawn Edmonds will act as interim chief executive of NewLease and assist the board of Rhype to recruit a new group CEO.

Hill said: "Dawn is highly respected by NewLease staff, customers and vendors alike and is focused on getting on with business as usual despite the tragic loss of Doug.

"In addition to the changes to the executive structure to cater for Doug’s passing, Rhype retains the depth of experience and input from its broader board and advisory committee as outlined in its prospectus.

"We remain confident in the NewLease business, its management team and the Rhype board to take advantage of the opportunities that we believe are open to the company."

Edmonds said: "It's tragic that Doug won't participate in the next phase of the company's development. He was proud of the businesses he created, helped build and lead. The public listing of NewLease is a significant milestone in the company's growth that Doug was eager to achieve.

"We are fortunate that Doug left the company in such a strong position and the leadership team is committed to delivering on the potential that Doug and I always saw. Our entire organisation is absolutely aware of where we need to go and how we need to get there. If anything, we are now, more than ever, driven to fulfill NewLease's potential, both for ourselves and for Doug's legacy."