Build back better

After a year of challenge and loss, Tony Lombardo is strapping on his new boots as Lendlease's incoming Group CEO.

Published Sat, May 8, 2021 · 05:50 AM

AS a child, Lendlease's Asia CEO Tony Lombardo pondered two ambitions. The first was to be a footballer, and the other was to be a boss. Only the latter was acceptable to his mother.

"She said: Don't even dream about being a sports person, Tony," he reminisces with a laugh. "She wanted me to be an accountant, a doctor or a lawyer - what all 'good immigrant parents' tend to aspire for their children to be."

Mr Lombardo is the fourth of five siblings, born of Italian parents who immigrated to Australia in the 1950s. His father worked as a cleaner and a butcher, while his mother looked after the home. His parents wanted a different future for their children.

So on the advice of family and friends, Mr Lombardo became an accountant. This proved a sound decision, he says - opening a door into the corporate world, where he was able to work with and learn from …