Grant Hackett has gone from smashing up a luxury Melbourne penthouse and wandering around Crown Casino in his underwear to running a $2.35billion listed company in one of the most dramatic and uplifting turnarounds in Australian sport.
The Olympic champion now heads Generation Development Group, a retirement-focused financial services and investment research company that has grown its market value more than 40-fold since 2020.
‘I think I came in [when] we were sitting around 50 odd cents [per share on the stock market],’ Hackett told the Finance Friends Podcast.
‘We’re trading today close to $5. So it’s been a significant amount of growth.’
Hackett, 45, took over as chief executive of GDG after a decade that saw him at the centre of a series of public controversies.
His troubles began in 2012 with what became known as the Derby Day penthouse incident.
Hackett is pictured at the peak of his swimming success, capturing gold at the Sydney Olympics and becoming one of Australia’s most recognisable sporting figures
Witnesses reported seeing Hackett wandering the gaming floor of Crown Casino in his underwear in February 2014 (pictured)
Hackett is pictured with his ex-wife Candice Alley when they were one of the golden couples of Australian sport and society
Hackett is pictured being led away by police at Melbourne Airport after an in-flight disturbance, adding another headline-making chapter to his turbulent years
The Olympics legend shocked Australia when he trashed the penthouse he shared with then-wife Candice Alley and their two kids in an alcohol-fuelled rage after the Melbourne Spring Carnival two years ago.
Hackett described the moment as ‘the lowest point of my life’, adding: ‘Of course I was sorry, and I will always be sorry.’
He admitted he wrecked the home to end his struggling marriage, calling it ‘weak and cowardly’.
However, he denied physically harming Alley or the children: ‘No. Never. Ever. No one has ever been physically harmed.’
Alley later said: ‘It was new for me to read in newspapers that Grant said our marriage was one of those that was probably doomed to fail from the start, and that he wanted to leave.
‘That was quite contrary to the way it was, at least through the first half of the marriage, he never indicated this once to me.
‘Towards the end, the hurt was too exhausting and depleting for me to continue the marriage. When we separated, there were no tears because I had run out.’
But the downward spiral did not end there.
Hackett and Ian Thorpe were the Australian dream team in the pool in the early 2000s
Once celebrated for his dominance in swimming, Hackett is now recognised for steering a billion-dollar company to sustained success
In February 2014, Hackett was photographed wandering Melbourne’s Crown Casino in his underwear.
It was later revealed he had taken the prescription sleeping pill Stilnox.
His dependency led to him to undergoing a five-week rehabilitation program in Arizona.
Two years later he was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons once again after an incident aboard a Virgin Australia flight from Adelaide to Melbourne.
‘I drank more than half a bottle of gin before the flight,’ he admitted.
When asked about allegations he had ‘tweaked’ a fellow passenger’s nipple, Hackett replied: ‘From my perspective? No.
‘Did I mean to touch him inappropriately? If I did, I’m very, very sorry. I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to offend him. It certainly wasn’t my intent at the end of the day.’
Hackett’s transformation from Olympic champion to respected CEO stands as one of the most remarkable career shifts in Australian sport and business
Hackett was detained by Australian Federal Police. No charges were laid.
In February 2017, police were called to the Gold Coast home of Hackett’s parents.
Witnesses said the gold medallist was ‘going off’ and ‘stabbing a chopping board’ before being taken to Southport Police Station.
His father said his son had been battling ‘mental health issues’ and was ‘receiving treatment from a doctor’.
Hackett had been preparing for a very different career long before the period that saw his life go off the rails.
‘I was trading shares at a very young age. Any money I was making out of swimming, I was investing,’ he said.
‘Even five years out from when I knew I would retire from my swimming career… I was studying commerce law.’
Hackett is pictured with his current partner Sharlene Fletcher and their two children Edward and Olympia after selling their luxurious home in Melbourne
The sporting great’s journey from personal controversy to corporate leadership has reshaped his public image and inspired a new wave of admirers
In 2017, GDG’s then-executive chairman Rob Coombe asked him to run the sales team.
‘Over the next 12 months, if you do a good job with sales, and you lead the team the right way, we’ll give you an opportunity to be CEO of the business,’ Hackett said of what Coombe told him at the time.
Sales rose 72 per cent.
‘The financial growth of the business and profile of the business was quite material. It was a break-even business at that time, so to start moving into the black was really good,’ Hackett explained.
Under Hackett’s leadership, GDG invested in Lonsec Holdings in 2020, launched investment-linked lifetime annuities in 2022–23, and acquired Lonsec outright in August 2024.
Market capitalisation rose from about $50million in 2020 to $1.08billion in 2024 and $2.35billion by this month.
Funds under management in its life business reached about $2.9billion in January 2024.
Hackett says the move into financial services has been more satisfying than his decorated swimming career.
Hackett (pictured with Sharlene Fletcher) hopes his transformation can help other athletes who are struggling to deal with retirement
‘Most people would be shocked in me saying this: I actually enjoy this career more than my sporting career,’ he said.
‘I love business. I love the opportunity to create something, grow something, work with brilliant people, be still in a very competitive environment.’
However, he admits the shift was not easy.
‘Particularly when everyone recognises you as that athlete. They still do today, even though I’ve been doing this job in financial services longer than when I was in swimming,’ Hackett said.
The CEO was no stranger to very early starts when he was training in the pool, and nothing has changed now he’s swapped the water for the boardroom.
‘My wife and I, generally we’re up at 5.50am. I’ll generally work out for about 40 minutes. I probably do that about five out of seven days a week,’ Hackett said.
‘I have a shower, get ready for work, and then go downstairs and have breakfast with the kids.
‘I try and see the kids as much as I can in the morning because generally the two young ones are asleep by the time I get home from work.’
Hackett still minds his diet and fitness to help him with the rigours of his high-powered job.
‘Having a busy lifestyle with work and family, you’re always on the run. You never really get too much downtime, so to look after yourself is super important,’ he said.
That can mean ‘three or four eggs for breakfast’ and avoiding ‘too much white sugar’, which he says ‘actually runs me down’.
He credits vulnerability as a leadership strength he learned the hard way, saying, ‘I wasn’t good at asking for help … I made a considered [effort] to be vulnerable when I needed to.’
Hackett now recognises when he is ‘overdoing it’ and adjusts. He also credits preparation and time management for contributing to his success.
‘One thing I reflect on, when I look at athletes, the best always make it look easy,’ he said.
‘They prepare so much [that] they look effortless.’
It all adds up to a public transformation that has been as dramatic as his fall. And now Hackett wants to pay it forward.
‘As much as these experiences are negative and have hurt … going through the ups and downs I have had may create greater guidance to athletes I want to help.’
