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Frank Lowy

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Frank Lowy
AC
Lowy at the Australian Football Awards in October 2011
Born (1930-10-22) 22 October 1930 (age 94)
Fiľakovo, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia)
NationalityAustralian
Known forowner of Leeds United July 2016
Board member of
SpouseShirley Lowy OAM
ChildrenPeter Lowy
Steven Lowy
David Lowy

Frank Lowy, AC (born 22 October 1930) is an Australian-Israeli[3][4] businessman and Chairman of Westfield Corporation, a global shopping centre company with US$29.3 billion of assets under management in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe. He is a former Chairman of Scentre Group, the owner and manager of Westfield-branded shopping centres in Australia and New Zealand.[5][6]

With an assessed net worth of A$8.26 billion in 2016, Lowy is ranked as the third richest Australian according to the BRW Rich 200;[7] having been the richest person in Australia during 2010.[8][9] Forbes Asia magazine assessed Lowy's net worth at US$4.6 billion in January 2014.[2]

Biography

Early life

Lowy was born in Czechoslovakia[4] (now Slovakia), and lived in Budapest, Hungary during World War II.[10] He made his way to France in 1946, where he left on the ship Yagur, but was caught on the route to Mandatory Palestine by the British and deported to the detention camp in Cyprus.[11] Lowy joined first the Haganah, then the Golani Brigade, and fought in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War in the Galilee and Gaza.[12]

Career

In 1952, Lowy left Israel and joined his family, who had left Europe for Australia and started a business delivering small goods.[13] In 1953, he met fellow immigrant John Saunders.[14] The pair became business partners, eventually creating Westfield Development Corporation through the development of a shopping centre at Blacktown in Sydney's western suburbs.[13] Over the next 30 years, Lowy and Saunders developed shopping centres across Australia and the United States (from 1977);[13] and listed the company on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1960 as Westfield Development Corporation.[13] Saunders sold his interests and left the company in 1987.[citation needed] In the 1990s Lowy took the company to New Zealand, then the United Kingdom in the 2000s.[13]

Lowy was appointed a Director of the Reserve Bank of Australia in 1995, and was reappointed in 2000 and 2003, concluding his term in 2005.[15] In 2008 Lowy and related interests were mentioned in documents stolen from the LGT Bank of Liechtenstein by a former employee. A subsequent US Senate probe and an Australian Taxation Office audit in which Lowy and his sons, David and Steven, were investigated on their involvement with financial institutions in tax havens located in Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Lowy maintained he had not done anything wrong and the matter was settled with the ATO and no action was taken after that.[16][17][18][19]

After turning 80 in October 2010, effective May 2011, Lowy officially stood down as Executive Chairman of the Westfield Group, taking on the role of Non-Executive Chairman. Sons, Steven and Peter, became joint chief executives.[20]

In October 2015, Lowy stepped down as the chairman of the Scentre Group, a role that he had held for 55 years.[21]

Personal life

Lowy at the 2013 March of the Living in Auschwitz-Birkenau in front of the cattle car donated in memory of his father, Hugo.

Lowy is married to Shirley who he met at a Jewish dance when he was 21. He has three sons, Peter and Steven Lowy, who manage the Westfield business, and David, who manages the family's private investments.[22] His wife is founder of the Chai Foundation which is dedicated to finding and funding research into effective but less toxic forms of cancer therapy.[23] His son Peter, is chairman of Tribe Media Corp, the parent of the Jewish Journal[24] and served as chairman of the University of Judaism.[25]

In an Australian television production broadcast in 2010, called Family Confidential, it was revealed that Lowy had kept a secret about his survival in Nazi occupied Hungary.[citation needed] As a 13-year-old Jewish boy, Lowy had never known about the loss of his father, Hugo Lowy, who was beaten to death at Auschwitz concentration camp while protecting Hugo's younger acquaintance, Myer Lowy.[22] As a mark of respect to Hugo Lowy and other Hungarian Jews, Lowy commissioned the restoration of a railway wagon that had transported Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz, and placed the wagon on site at the former concentration camp.[22] In April 2013, Frank Lowy attended the March of the Living, where he shared the story of how his father, Hugo Lowy, perished during the Holocaust, with thousands of young students from around the world who had gathered in Auschwitz-Birkenau to observe Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah).[26][27]

Wealth

Lowy has appeared on the BRW Rich 200 list every year since it was first published in 1983.[28] In 2010, the BRW magazine measured Lowy's wealth at A$5.04 billion, making him Australia's richest person at that time.[8][9] In 2014, his net wealth was assessed at A$7.16 billion by the BRW magazine and US$4.60 billion by the Forbes magazine.[2][29] In 2016 his wealth was assesed as A$8.26 billion on the BRW Rich 200 list.[7]

Wealth rankings

Year BRW
Rich 200 		Forbes
Australia's 40 Richest
Rank Net worth (A$) Rank Net worth (US$)
2007[30][31] 2 Steady $6.51 billion Increase 2 Steady $4.30 billion Increase
2008[32][33] 2 Decrease $6.30 billion Decrease 4 Decrease $4.40 billion Decrease
2009[34][35] 2 Steady $4.20 billion Decrease 2 Increase $2.80 billion Decrease
2010[36][37] 1 Increase $5.04 billion Increase 3 Decrease $3.50 billion Increase
2011[38][39] 6 Decrease $4.98 billion Decrease 4 Decrease $4.30 billion Increase
2012[40][41] 3 Increase $6.47 billion Increase 5 Decrease $4.40 billion Increase
2013[42][43] 2 Increase $6.80 billion Increase 4 Increase $5.30 billion Increase
2014[2][29] 4 Decrease $7.16 billion Increase 6 Decrease $4.60 billion Decrease
2015[44] 4 Steady $7.84 billion Increase
2016[7] 3 Increase $8.26 billion Increase
Legend
Icon Description
Steady Has not changed from the previous year
Increase Has increased from the previous year
Decrease Has decreased from the previous year

Football in Australia

A long time supporter of Association football in Australia, Lowy was Chairman of the Football Federation Australia (FFA) from 2003 to November 2015.[45] Some observers credit him and John O'Neill, a former rugby union executive, with resurrecting soccer in Australia.[46] A televised "A-League" is now in place, and the country has become a member of the Asian Football Confederation.

In 2007 Lowy commenced a campaign to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Australia backed with $43 million in support from the Australian Government.[47] In 2010, amid allegations of bribery, politics, and back-scratching,[48][49][50] FIFA awarded Qatar the rights to host the World Cup.

In 2015 he fell off a stage as the A-League trophy was due to be presented. In May 2015 he underwent surgery to resolve a complication that had arisen from the fall.[51]

Lowy receiving the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship in 2005

Philanthropy

Lowy has a reputation for giving of his time and financial support to a broad range of causes.[citation needed]

Awarded the title of Australia’s leading philanthropist by peak body, Philanthropy Australia, with donations in 2002 of A$10 million,.[52]

In April 2003 to mark the 50th anniversary of his arrival in Australia, Lowy established the Lowy Institute for International Policy, an independent international policy think tank devoted to foreign affairs, and Australia's role in the world.[53] It was reported that a gift of A$30 million was made to establish the Institute.[52] Together with the Packer family, in 2008 Lowy donated an undisclosed amount towards the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute.[54] In 2010, Lowy and his family donated A$10 million to facilitate the construction of the UNSW Lowy Cancer Research Centre, a collaborative centre of the Children’s Cancer Institute Australia and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of New South Wales.[55][56][57]

Awards and recognition

In 2000 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for his service to the community through the development of the property industry and expansion of the retail sector in Australia and internationally, and as philanthropist committed to support of wide-ranging social and cultural endeavours.[58] The establishment of the Lowy Institute led him to being awarded the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship in 2005 by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.[59] On 2 October 2007 Lowy received the Henni Friedlander Award for the Common Good at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, United States.[60] In 2008 Lowy was honoured by Australia Post for his contribution to philanthropy as one of the nation's five leading, living philanthropists with a commemorative postage stamp that was released on the eve of Australia Day as part of the Australian Legends series.[61]

References

  1. ^ Stensholt, John, ed. (27 May 2016). "2016 BRW Rich 200". Financial Review. Australia. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d "2014 Australia's 40 Richest". Forbes Asia. January 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  3. ^ Pilger, John (26 September 2011). "War and shopping - the extremism that never speaks its name". New Statesman (1996). via HighBeam (subscription required). The co-founder of Westfield is Frank Lowy, an Australian -Israeli billionaire who is to shopping what Rupert Murdoch is to media.
  4. ^ a b Cashman, Greer Fay (8 August 2012). "The Australian connection". Jerusalem Post. via HighBeam (subscription required). Among the many Australian citizens who have homes in Israel as well as business interests in this country is billionaire Frank Lowy, one of the wealthiest people in Australia, who is often described in the media as an Australian-Israeli businessman even though he was born in Czechoslovakia.
  5. ^ http://www.scentregroup.com/about/board/
  6. ^ Danckert, Sarah (23 October 2015). "Frank Lowy to retire as chairman of Scentre Group". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  7. ^ a b c "BRW rich list topped by Harry Triguboff, Gina Rinehart slips to fourth". ABC News. 26 May 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  8. ^ a b Zappone, Chris (26 May 2010). "Frank Lowy tops BRW rich list for first time". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
  9. ^ a b Saulwick, Jacob; Cummins, Caroline (27 May 2010). "Lowy leaves mining magnates in the dust". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
  10. ^ Hewett, Jennifer (13 November 2010). "Holocaust truth set Frank Lowy free". The Australian.
  11. ^ Keinon, Herb (30 May 2006). "Frank Lowy: From Hagana to $3.8 billion magnate". Jerusalem Post. via HighBeam (subscription required). One of 750 passengers who after World War II left France on board the illegal immigrant ship Yagur, Lowy was caught en route by the British and deported to the detention camp in Cyprus.
  12. ^ Keinon, Herb (30 May 2006). "Frank Lowy: From Hagana to $3.8 billion magnate". Jerusalem Post. via HighBeam (subscription required). From Atlit Lowy eventually joined the Hagana and then the Golani Brigade, fighting during the War of Independence in the Galilee and in Gaza.
  13. ^ a b c d e Myer, Rod; Lynch, Michael (24 April 2004). "No longer a family affair". The Age. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  14. ^ Kruger, Colin (10 May 2016). "CBD: Frank's back". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  15. ^ "Past & Present Reserve Bank Board Members". About the RBA. Reserve Bank of Australia. 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  16. ^ "Death and taxes: how Frank Lowy faced off one and settled the other". The Australian Financial Review. 18 July 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  17. ^ "Probe into Lowys offshore banking". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 July 2008. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  18. ^ Wood, Leonie (9 December 2010). "US ran two investigations into Lowys' bank links". The Age. Australia. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  19. ^ Elliott, Geoff; Hewett, Jennifer (18 July 2008). "Lowy family 'hid millions'". The Australian. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  20. ^ Hewett, Jennifer (3 March 2011). "Frank Lowy hands Westfield reins to sons". The Australian. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  21. ^ "Frank Lowy steps down as Scentre Group chairman". Financial Review. Australia. 23 October 2015.
  22. ^ a b c Hewett, Jennifer (3 November 2010). "Holocaust truth set Frank Lowy free". The Australian. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  23. ^ " Jewish Care NSW: "Chai Foundation and JewishCare sign historical agreement " 29 June 2011
  24. ^ Jewish Journal: "Seeking impact, Jewish funders convene in L.A." by Jonah Lowenfeld March 19, 2013
  25. ^ Jewish Journal: "A Big Giver" by Rob Eshman March 22, 2007
  26. ^ "Frank Lowy recalls father's demise in March of the Living address". Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  27. ^ "The Wagon of Birkenau". Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  28. ^ Thomson, James (22 May 2013). "Celebrating 30 years of the Rich 200". BRW Rich 200. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  29. ^ a b "2014 BRW Rich 200". BRW. Sydney. 26 June 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  30. ^ "James Packer still top of rich list". The Sydney Morning Herald. 30 May 2007.
  31. ^ "Australia and New Zealand's 40 Richest: Frank Lowy". Forbes Asia. 1 February 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  32. ^ Litras, Peter (28 May 2008). "Rich surprise: Alan Bond bounces back". The Age. AAP. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  33. ^ Thomson, James (20 March 2008). "Australia and New Zealand's 40 Richest: The List". Forbes Asia. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  34. ^ Zappone, Chris (27 May 2009). "Rich get poorer". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
  35. ^ "Australia's 40 Richest: Frank Lowy". Forbes Asia. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  36. ^ Saulwick, Jacob; Cummins, Caroline (27 May 2010). "Lowy leaves mining magnates in the dust". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  37. ^ "Australia's 40 Richest: James Packer". Forbes Asia. 3 March 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  38. ^ "BRW Rich 200 Wealth Index". BRW. Australia. 25 May 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  39. ^ "Australia's 40 Richest: James Packer". Forbes Asia. March 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  40. ^ "Rich 200: It's tough at the top". BRW. 24 May 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  41. ^ "Australia's 40 Richest: James Packer". Forbes Asia. 1 February 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  42. ^ "Rich 200 get richer: Our top 10 billionaires enjoy a year to remember". BRW. Sydney. 14 November 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  43. ^ "James Packer". Forbes Asia. March 2013.
  44. ^ Stensholt, John, ed. (May 2015). "BRW Rich 200 List 2015". Financial Review. Australia.
  45. ^ Sygall, David (7 November 2015). "End of an era".
  46. ^ Galloway, Patrick (16 November 2015). "Frank Lowy transformed soccer in Australia". ABC.net. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  47. ^ Sales, Leigh (18 November 2015). "Frank Lowy: Australia ran clean World Cup bid, outgoing billionaire FFA boss says".
  48. ^ Wilson, Peter (4 December 2010). "The moment Lowy knew Cup bid was lost". The Australian. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  49. ^ Wahl, Grant (23 May 2011). "Sorry Soccer: New allegations of corruption underline the need for change in FIFA". Sports Illustrated. United States: Time Inc. p. 16. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  50. ^ "Bin Hammam denied access to Fifa congress". BBC News. United Kingdom. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  51. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/frank-lowy-falls-off-stage-a-league-trophy-presentation-for-melbourne-victory-overshadowed-as-84-10256081.html
  52. ^ a b Nethercote, Jane; Webb-Pullman, Marika (17 May 2006). "Forget the filthy rich: here's the Crikey philanthropy list". Crikey.com. Australian. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  53. ^ "About the Lowy Institute". The Lowy Institute. Retrieved 4 December 2006.
  54. ^ Tovey, Josephine (3 September 2008). "Princess Mary opens Victor Chang centre". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  55. ^ "Lowy Cancer Research Centre". Key projects. University of New South Wales. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  56. ^ "The Lowy Cancer Research Centre at UNSW – Giving Hope". Alumni e-Newsletter. University of New South Wales. 1 August 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  57. ^ "About the Lowy Gift". The Centre is named in recognition of leading businessman and philanthropist Frank Lowy and his family. UNSW Medicine. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  58. ^ "Search Australian Honours: Lowy, Frank P". It's an Honour. Commonwealth of Australia. 26 January 2000. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  59. ^ "Howard gets award amid anti-US concern". The Sydney Morning Herald. AAP. 21 August 2005. Retrieved 6 January 2008.
  60. ^ "Business Leader/Philanthropist Frank Lowy to Receive Henni Friedlander Award for the Common Good". Bowdoin College. 2 October 2007. Retrieved 2 October 2007.
  61. ^ "New stamps honour five philanthropists". The Age. AAP. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  • Stitson, Roger (15 November 2010). "A Study Guide" (pdf). Family Confidential. Australia: ABC TV. pp. 3–5. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
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