In a statement, GFG said that Schmidt was leaving the company after 10 years to "spend more time with his young family and on his investments in renewables". The group said that he "played a key role" in building the fashion e-commerce business, first as chief executive of GFG's Australia and New Zealand region, where he established The Iconic as the number one fashion e-commerce company in the region and championed the introduction of the sustainability strategy. He also initiated the turnaround of GFG's south-east Asia region as interim Zalaro chief executive.