Todd Sampson on the march with NBN. Todd Sampson — the much-loved Gruen Transfer panellist with a penchant for edgy T-shirts — is rising up The Power Index. This month his ad agency, Leo Burnett, became the first Australian firm to break into the list of the world’s top 10 creative agencies. And now NBN Co has called him in to sell the government’s multi-billion dollar broadband network to the Australian public.

NBN Co has confirmed that it is working with Leo Burnett Sydney, according to trade publication AdNews. If the NBN campaign is a raging success, it could send Sampson soaring into our Spinners and Advisers Top 10. — The Power Index (read the full story here)

Rinehart appoints Plimer to another board. Iron ore heiress Gina Rinehart has appointed controversial climate sceptic Ian Plimer to the board of a third family company in as many weeks.

Australia’s richest woman also appointed favoured daughter Ginia to the board of Pilbara mining company Hope Downs Iron Ore, after she was the only child to stick by the mining magnate during her recent family court battle. ASIC was informed yesterday of the move, according to The Australian. — The Power Index (read the full story here)

CBA chief: bank bashers should check facts. Expect new Commonwealth Bank chief Ian Narev to soon be a household name. His performance at the bank’s first-half results presentation yesterday showed he’ll be no pushover in answering to the political point scoring that comes from having a go at the banks.

While announcing a healthy interim cash profit of $3.57 billion, up 7% from the previous corresponding period, Narev urged for more “facts” to be brought into the debate regarding banking profits and a decision by the Big Four to raise mortgage rates independently of the Reserve Bank of Australia. — Angela Priestley (read the full story here)

David Jones: fashion in, executives out. A glitzy fashion show launched David Jones’ latest collections last night — and brought some light relief to the issue of the company’s senior executives leaving in droves. Network 10’s new boss James Warburton, Foxtel boss Richard Freudenstein and horse trainer Gai Waterhouse were in the audience, along with the usual B-list celebs — Dannii Minogue, Delta Goodrem, Rachael Finch and actress Gracie Otto, to name a few.

But the latest setback for DJs came yesterday when finance director Stephen Goddard announced he’ll be retiring in October, after nine years in the role. He becomes the fifth senior executive to jump the David Jones ship in the past two years. The company has also lost seven senior managers in the same period. — Lucy Clark (read the full story here)