Boost Mobile chairman Peter Adderton, who owned about a third of the company he founded in 2000, said the acquisition was a natural evolution for his brand, which typically targets younger customers.

“I am excited to see how the brand will continue to grow under Telstra’s ownership,” he said. “The team at Boost are the best in the business and I wish them all well on the next part of Boost Mobile’s journey.”

Boost Mobile chief executive Jason Haynes, a former professional snowboarder, said he would leave the business after it was integrated into Telstra.

Adderton has previously praised his business partner Keating as a “great marketer”.

Keating poured an initial $500,000 into the business and helped Boost Mobile negotiate an agreement with Optus, its first partner.

“I’ve got a chunk of a successful business which I co-founded and funded myself,” Keating told The Australian Financial Review. “I’m reasonable at my own ventures.”

Adderton is now based in the US and is running a new telco venture, MobileX. Last year, he won a Federal Court stoush against Telstra rival Optus after Optus launched “Internet Boost and Mobile Boost” products, which allowed customers to pay a fee to improve their broadband and mobile speeds.

Optus has since renamed those products Internet and Mobile Turbocharge.

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In an interview at the time, Adderton, who has gained a reputation in the telecommunications industry for his outspoken views, said American telcos “beat each other up” and that competition in Australia was “lame” by comparison.

“When it comes to corporate Australia, everyone is very soft,” he told this masthead. “We want to fight hard and call people out when they make mistakes, and more importantly, we’ll call ourselves out if we make a mistake. This is a combat sport, and Australia needs to wake up a little bit and fight a bit harder to show that you’re fighting for your customers.

“We have a very ‘woke’ moment right now in corporate Australia where consultants are telling people what they should and shouldn’t say, and what ends up happening is you end up saying nothing. You’ll never offend anybody if you’re fighting for your customers, never.”

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