Telstra's former Wholesale boss Stuart Lee passes away

Telstra CEO Andy Penn has led tributes to Stuart Lee, a retired 45-year veteran of the telco and one-time Wholesale boss who passed away yesterday.

Penn paid tribute to Lee, saying that “Telstra has lost one of its stalwarts and Australia one of its telecommunication industry giants”.

Lee retired from Telstra in November 2016 after 45 years at the company, where he held 20 different roles.

“Stuart was a leader, a friend and mentor to many and I count myself as one who benefited from his wise counsel, support and keen business sense,” Penn said.

“On behalf of the Telstra team, my sincere condolences to Stuart’s friends, family and former colleagues. We’ll miss him greatly.”

Lee would be “well remembered for his huge intellect and deep care for people, progress, Telstra and telecommunications in Australia,” Penn added.

Lee started out as a cadet engineer with the Postmaster General.

“His contribution, both within Telstra and across Telecommunications in Australia, was huge,” Penn said.

“In 2014 he was named Comms Alliance Australian Comms Ambassador for sustained industry leadership, commitment to improving the sector and for developing future industry leaders.

“In 2012 he was also named an Honorary Fellow at the University of Melbourne where he was a Member of Industry Advisory Group to the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and the group’s chairman 2015-2020.”

Hundreds of tributes from across the telco and IT sectors were paid in a separate LinkedIn post that announced Lee’s passing.