John Ilhan
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John Ilhan (Turkish: Mustafa İlhan; 23 January 1965 – 23 October 2007)[1] was the founder of Crazy John's mobile phone retail chain and the richest Australian under 40 years of age in 2003. He was an Australian Muslim of Turkish origin.
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[edit] Early life
Ilhan was born in 1965 in Yozgat, Turkey and migrated to Australia with his family when he was five. He grew up in working-class Broadmeadows in Melbourne's north-west.
[edit] Career
After just one year at university and a short time as a salesman at Ford, Ilhan took a sales job at the phone and electrical retailer Strathfield Car Radio. He left in 1991 to set up his own mobile-phone shop, right across the road from Strathfield's store in inner-city Brunswick. After expanding the business into Australia's biggest Telstra mobile dealership, with 18 stores in Victoria, Ilhan opened a handful of stores in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.
He was ranked first in Business Review Weekly's Australia's Young Rich List 2003, with a fortune of $200 million. In the 2007 Rich List, he came in as the 126th richest man in Australia with a fortune of $310 million.[2]
In 2006 Ilhan founded the Ilhan Food Allergy Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to promoting research and educating the public about the issues and causes surrounding anaphylaxis.
[edit] Football
Ilhan was a vocal supporter of the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League. He made bids for the board and even offered to buy out Terry Wallace's contract in a bid to improve the team's performance by recruiting Kevin Sheedy.[3]
[edit] Death
Ilhan died of a suspected heart attack, during a morning walk in Brighton, Victoria on 23 October 2007, aged 42 but an autopsy later revealed that he was felled by a hereditary heart condition that also claimed the life of his older brother. He left behind a wife Patricia and four children.[4][5] His final interview was shown on Today Tonight the day before his death. A traditional Islamic funeral was held at the Broadmeadows Mosque on 26 October 2007. Among the approximately 3,000 mourners were Ahmed Fahour and Eddie McGuire.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ "An upwardly mobile, 'crazy' young Turk", by Ben Doherty. The Age, p.11. Published 24 October 2007.
- ^ Tributes flow in for 'Crazy John'
- ^ Wallace buy-out crazy for Ilhan
- ^ John Ilhan Dead at 42
- ^ Mobile phone king 'Crazy John' Ilhan dies
- ^ Ilhan send-off filled with echoes of his lucrative calling - National
