Carlton Football chairman Luke Sayers has accused hackers of infiltrating his social media accounts and sending a graphic sexual image to an executive at one of the club's key sponsors.
The former PWC CEO's account .
The public post was directed to the executive's social media account, although the mother of two does not appear to have used X since 2017 and does not follow Sayers on the platform.
Sources close to the executive told Daily Mail Australia that she was distraught by the incident and “completely shocked.”
The photo remained online for 12 minutes before Sayers noticed, hastily deleted it and apologized to his followers, saying he had been attacked by cybercriminals.
“Sorry, my account has been hacked. Please ignore all posts,” wrote the president of the football club.
The account of the married father of four, who has more than 7,300 followers, was later deleted, but other X users had already reposted the post and taken a screenshot.
Sayers, who is currently on a family ski trip in Italy where he has a second home on Lake Como, where the hacked post was published at around 7.40am local time, told Daily Mail Australia he was “outraged” by the attack.
'This is outrageous. “I am investigating and will spare no effort to find out who did this to me and my family,” he said.
Carlton Football Club chairman Luke Sayers has become embroiled in a lewd photography scandal after his X account tweeted a sexual image while tagging an executive from one of the club's key sponsors.
The offensive image posted on Mr Sayers' social media account
The executive tagged in the hijacked post was at a Carlton Respects lunch, as part of a program run by the club to help counter violence against women, six months ago.
Hacking attacks commonly occur in C, and cybercriminals often hijack profiles to post phishing or spam links.
The attack comes just over 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 $16.5 million.
The Sayers purchased the seven-bedroom home in Hawthorn East nearly two decades ago for $4.84 million.
Sayers headed the Australian division of international consultancy PwC for eight years, but left in 2020 to start investment and advisory business Sayers Group after becoming embroiled in the tax scandal that engulfed the global accounting giant.
He is known to be well connected and is a close friend of former federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg.
Mr and Mrs Sayers founded the Inclusion Foundation, formerly known as e.motion21, in 2009 after discovering that 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, offers innovative dance and fitness programs for children and young people with the condition.
Mr Sayers was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to business, people with disabilities and the community in 2019.
The 'hacking' attack comes just over a month after Sayers and his wife Cate sold their mansion in Melbourne's east for more than $16.5 million.
The prominent businessman grew up in Rochester, rural Victoria, and spent time in Canada before settling in Melbourne with his family.
He became a partner at PwC at age 29 before being named CEO of the firm at age 42.
A passionate football fan, he joined the board of directors of Carlton Football Club in 2012 and was elected president in August 2021.
Carton Football Club members voted overwhelmingly to extend Mr Sayers' reign at the club's annual general meeting in February 2024.
He had previously attributed his outgoing personality and ability to build relationships with business contacts as the key factor in his success.
'I think the world has become too transactional. “It's about more speed and more treadmill, that's not me,” he told the Australian Financial Review in 2021.
'Deep down in my heart, I love spending time with people, which is why I spend every day at lunches, dinners and client meetings.
'At the end of the day, people want to do business with people they trust and respect, and they understand that a relationship is based on loyalty and trust, which you can't get from meeting to meeting, so maybe I'm from the old school. '
Sayers says he is 'outraged' by attack and wants to find perpetrators
It has allowed him to build close relationships on both sides of the political spectrum, with both Frydenberg, a former Liberal federal treasurer, and former Victorian Labor premier Dan Andrews attending his 50th birthday party in 2019.
“I have worked with Daniel Andrews, Josh Frydenberg and many other politicians from both sides.” he told the AFR.
'I build relationships and respect people who have a good head and a good heart and who try to do the right thing.
“If I can bring insight from a business perspective anywhere, great.”