UPDATE: Sheu leaves Synnex

Synnex Australia founder and managing director Frank Sheu has left the company amid unclear circumstances.

Marketing manager Danny Feldman told CRN that Sheu officially left the company on 3 January to persue professional development opportunities overseas.

Feldman also “categorically denied” industry rumours that Sheu’s departure was linked to Omega’s recent demise. It is understood Synnex is owed around $1.6 million by Omega.

“We are self-insured so a part of our revenue is set aside for circumstances like this,” he said. “It costs us significantly less to do it this way than to pay for third party insurance.”

Sheu’s decision to leave Synnex was also made “months” before Omega went into administration, Feldman said.

Feldman would not comment further but said Sheu had left the company in a sound corporate and financial state.

Synnex turned over $500 million in revenue last year and now had more than 200 staff across five offices, he said.

Former general manager of products, Kee Ong — who has been with Synnex since 1998 — has been appointed as the new managing director, Feldman said.

The company had informed a number of its vendor partners and resellers but was waiting until its annual partner conference in February to formally announce the change.

Sheu leaves the company at a critical time. The distributor launched a fledgling New Zealand venture last year and is currently in a period of transition; evolving away from its whitebox roots to better compete with archrival Ingram Micro.

“The vision for the company doesn’t change,” Feldman said. “We continue to grow organically and are now looking for stability and consolidation.”

Sheu has been in the IT game for some time. He founded PC builder Mytag in 1991 and later moved into distribution with the launch of Synnex Australia in 1997. The company is now considered to rank as the second largest IT distributor in Australia.

Both Sheu and Ong were unavailable for comment.