Carlton football president Luke Sayers has accused hackers of infiltrating his social media accounts and sending a graphic sexual image to a female executive at one of the club’s key sponsors.
The former PWC chief executive’s X account posted an image of a mystery man’s penis while they were reclining on a bed, and tagged the account of a top female management figure with a company linked to Carlton at 5.41pm on Wednesday.
The public post was directed at the executive’s social media account, although the mother-of-two does not appear to have used X since 2017 and does not follow Mr Sayers on the platform.
Sources close to the executive told Daily Mail Australia she was distraught over the incident and ‘completely shaken up’.
The photo remained online for 12 minutes before Mr Sayers noticed, hastily deleted the image and apologised to his followers, saying he had been targeted by cyber criminals.
‘Sorry, my account has been hacked – please ignore all posts,’ the football club president wrote.
The married father-of-four’s account, which has more than 7,300 followers, was then deleted but the post had already been reposted and screengrabbed by other X users.
Mr Sayers, who is currently on a family skiing trip in Italy, where he has a second home at Lake Como, where the hacked post went live about 7.40am local time, told Daily Mail Australia he was ‘outraged’ by the attack.
‘This is outrageous. I’m investigating and will leave no stone unturned finding out who did this to me and my family,’ he said.
Carlton Football Club president Luke Sayers has been caught up in a lewd photo scandal after his X account tweeted a sexual image while tagging a female executive at one of the club’s key sponsors
The offending image posted on Mr Sayers’ social media account
The female executive tagged in the hijacked posted was at a Carlton Respects luncheon, as part of a program run by the club to help counter violence against women, six months ago.
Hack attacks occur commonly on the social media platform, with cyber-criminals often hijacking profiles to post phishing or spam links.
The attack comes little more than a month after the prominent executive figure and his Cate, who have four daughters together, sold their sprawling mansion in Melbourne’s east for more than $16.5million.
The Sayers snapped up the seven-bedroom home in Hawthorn East almost two decades ago for $4.84million.
Mr Sayers ran the Australian division of international consultancy firm PwC’s for eight years but left in 2020 to start the investment and advisory business Sayers Group after he was embroiled in the tax scandal that engulfed the global accountancy giant.
He known to be well-connected and is a close friend of former federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg.
The couple started the Inclusion Foundation, formerly e.motion21, in 2009 after discovering their second daughter, Alexandra, who was born with Down syndrome, was being excluded by other children at her local dance school.
The foundation, which champions the inclusion of people with Down syndrome, provides innovative dance and fitness programs for children and young adults with the condition.
Mr Sayers was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his significant service to business, to people with a disability, and to the community in 2019.
The ‘hack’ attack comes little more than a month after Mr Sayers and his wife Cate sold their mansion in Melbourne’s east for more than $16.5million
The high-profile businessman grew up in Rochester, in rural Victoria, and spent time in Canada before settling in Melbourne with his family.
He became a partner at PwC at 29 before being appointed chief executive officer at the company at 42.
A fierce footy fan, he joined the Carlton Football Club board in 2012 and was elected as president in August 2021.
Carton Football Club members overwhelmingly voted to extend Mr Sayers reign at the club’s annual general meeting in February 2024.
He has previously credited his outgoing personality and ability to build relationship with business contacts as the key driver behind his success.
‘I think the world has become overly transactional. It’s all about faster, more treadmill, that’s not me,’ he told the Australian Financial Review in 2021.
‘In my heart of hearts, I love spending time with people, so I spend every day at lunches and dinners and meetings with clients.
‘At the end of the day people want to do business with people they trust and respect and understand that a relationship built around loyalty and trust, which you can’t get running from one meeting to another, so maybe I’m old school.’
Mr Sayers says he is ‘outraged’ by the hack attack and wants to find the perpetrators
It has enabled him to build close relationships on both sides of the political spectrum, with both Mr Frydenberg, a former federal Liberal treasurer, and former Victorian Labor premier Dan Andrews attending his 50th birthday bash in 2019.
‘I’ve worked with Daniel Andrews, Josh Frydenberg and lots of other politicians from both sides.’ he told the AFR.
‘I build relationships and respect people who have a good head and good heart and are trying to do the right thing.
‘If I can provide input from a business perspective to whatever side, fantastic.’