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Afterpay winner LukeBortoli turns to lithium mining

Afterpay’s former chieffinancial officer Luke Bortoli could be in for a shock when he starts as finance bossat lithium darling Pilbara Minerals on Tuesday. For the miner made a profit andpaid a dividend for the six months to December 31, which isn’t a result commonto the buy now, pay later sector known for its spectacular losses

Bertoli’s switch from mining Afterpay investors’ wallets to themines of the Pilbara has raised a few eyebrows, but there’s no doubt he’sjoined another rocket ship.

Pilbara Minerals shares are up 13-fold since 2020 as it rides a lithiumprice boom on soaring demand for the clean energy product it extracts at itsPilgangoora Project 120 kilometres from Port Hedland

Bertoli left Afterpay in June 2021 after just over three years, havingtrousered around $60 million in cash and share options. Since then, his LinkedIn profile lists him as a self-employed investor and tech adviser, who sits on the board of ASX-listed Beforepay as a director and head of the remuneration committee.

Consumer lender Beforepay floated at $3.41 per share in January2022 and has flopped 88 per cent to 41 cents since. Its chairman and formerWestpac chief executive Brian Hartzer is nursing losses on his 67,281 shares, with another 242,200 options out of the money as well.

Bizarrely, Bertoli acquired 1566Beforepay shares in June 2022 for just $438.38 after forgetting to close a previousbuy order. The accident, unbefitting of a fintech whizz, leaves Bertoli owninga total of 26,791 shares and 83,816 unlisted options.

Pilbara Minerals hasn’t disclosed details of Bertoli’s pay andincentives packet, but on the day it announced his appointment the boardapproved plans to invest $560 million to increase production capacity atPilgangoora. The capex plans should keep Bertoli busy at one of the market’swildest success stories.