Frank Lowy
Encyclopedia
Frank Lowy, AC
(born 22 October 1930 in Fiľakovo
(Hungarian: Fülek), Czechoslovakia
) is an Australia
n-Israeli businessman. He is a co-founder of the Westfield Group, operator of over 100 shopping centres in Australia, New Zealand
, the United States
and Great Britain
. In 2010, Lowy was ranked #1 on the BRW Rich 200 list
.
, and lived in Budapest
, Hungary
during World War II
. He made his way to France in 1946, where he left on the ship Yagur, but was caught en route to British Mandate of Palestine by the British and deported to the detention camp in Cyprus
. After a few months, Lowy was allowed into Palestine and was brought to the Atlit detainee camp
. Lowy then moved to Sde Yaakov a small yeshiva school near Qiryat Tivon
eventually joined the Haganah
and then the Golani Brigade
, fighting during the Arab–Israeli War in the Galilee
and in Gaza
.
, Israel
and joined his family, who had left Europe for Australia and started a business delivering small goods. In 1953, he met fellow Hungarian
immigrant John Saunders. The pair became business partners, eventually creating Westfield Development Corporation through the development of a shopping centre at Blacktown
in Sydney's western suburbs
. Over the next 30 years, Lowy and Saunders developed shopping centres across Australia and the United States (from 1977); changing the name of the company to the Westfield Group and listing the company on the Australian Stock Exchange
in 1960. Saunders sold his interests and left the company in 1987; meanwhile Lowy took the company to New Zealand (in the 1990s) and the United Kingdom (in the 2000s).
In 2008 Lowy and related interests were mentioned in documents stolen from the LGT Bank of Lichtenstein 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 hadn't done anything wrong.
Lowy has appeared on the BRW Rich 200 list every year since it was first published in 1983. In 2010, the Business Review Weekly
measured Lowy's wealth at A$5.04 billion, making him Australia's richest person at that time.
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.
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. 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 brother, Myer Lowy until a chance meeting between Myer and Peter Lowy in Los Angles in 1991. 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.
, Lowy was elected Chairman of the Football Federation Australia
(FFA) in 2003. Some observers credit him and John O'Neill
, a former rugby union
executive, with resurrecting football in Australia. A well structured A-League
is now in place, and the country has become a member of the Asian Football Confederation
. Although, there is some pressure for Lowy to step aside as Chairman of the FFA when his term expires in October 2011. In September 2008, it was announced the Lowy was appointed to the FIFA
board.
In 2007 Lowy commenced a campaign to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup
in Australia backed with A$46 million support from the Australia Government. In 2010, amid allegations of bribbery, politics, and back-scratching, FIFA awarded Qatar the rights to host the World Cup.
in 1995, and was reappointed in 2000 and 2003, concluding his term in 2005. 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.
Awarded the title of Australia’s leading philanthropist by peak body, Philanthropy Australia, with donations in 2002 of A$10 million, the same year Lowy was reported to have answered a call by Australia's Prime Minster
to donate his annual salary of approximately A$11 million to charity.
In April 2003 to mark the 50th anniversay 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. It was reported that a gift of A$30 million was made to establish the Institute. Lowy's gift has led to him being awarded the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship in 2005 by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
.
On 2 October 2007 Lowy received the Henni Friedlander Award for the Common Good at Bowdoin College
in Brunswick, Maine
, United States
.
Together with the Packer
family, in 2008 Lowy made an undisclosed gift towards the Victor Chang
Cardiac Research Institute
. In 2010, Lowy and his family gifted 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
.
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.
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(born 22 October 1930 in Fiľakovo
Filakovo
Fiľakovo is a town in the Banská Bystrica Region of south-central Slovakia. Historically it was part of the Nógrád region.-Geography:...
(Hungarian: Fülek), Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
) is an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n-Israeli businessman. He is a co-founder of the Westfield Group, operator of over 100 shopping centres in Australia, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. In 2010, Lowy was ranked #1 on the BRW Rich 200 list
BRW Rich 200
The BRW Rich 200 is a list of Australia's two hundred wealthiest individuals and families, ranked by personal net worth. The list is released annually during May in a special issue of the Business Review Weekly, published by Fairfax Media....
.
Early life
Lowy was born in CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, and lived in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He made his way to France in 1946, where he left on the ship Yagur, but was caught en route to British Mandate of Palestine by the British and deported to the detention camp in Cyprus
Cyprus internment camps
Cyprus internment camps were camps run by the British government for internment of Jews who had immigrated or attempted to immigrate to Mandatory Palestine in violation of British policy...
. After a few months, Lowy was allowed into Palestine and was brought to the Atlit detainee camp
Atlit detainee camp
The Atlit detainee camp was a detention camp established by the British at the end of the 1930s on what is now Israel's northern coast south of Haifa. The camp was established to prevent Jewish refugees, mainly Holocaust survivors, from entering then-Palestine...
. Lowy then moved to Sde Yaakov a small yeshiva school near Qiryat Tivon
Qiryat Tivon
Kiryat Tiv'on is a town in the Haifa District of Israel, in the hills between the Zvulun and Jezreel valleys. Kiryat Tiv'on is situated southeast of Haifa, on the main road to Nazareth. On the outskirts of Tiv'on is a Bedouin township called Basmat Tab'un...
eventually joined the Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
and then the Golani Brigade
Golani Brigade
The Golani Brigade is an Israeli infantry brigade that is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. Its symbol is a green tree on a yellow background, and its soldiers wear a brown beret. It is one of the most highly decorated infantry units in the...
, fighting during the Arab–Israeli War in the Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
and in Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
.
Career
In 1952, Lowy left Qiryat TivonQiryat Tivon
Kiryat Tiv'on is a town in the Haifa District of Israel, in the hills between the Zvulun and Jezreel valleys. Kiryat Tiv'on is situated southeast of Haifa, on the main road to Nazareth. On the outskirts of Tiv'on is a Bedouin township called Basmat Tab'un...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and joined his family, who had left Europe for Australia and started a business delivering small goods. In 1953, he met fellow Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
immigrant John Saunders. The pair became business partners, eventually creating Westfield Development Corporation through the development of a shopping centre at Blacktown
Blacktown, New South Wales
Blacktown is a suburb in the City of Blacktown, in Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Blacktown is located 34 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the local government area of City of Blacktown.Blacktown is the largest...
in Sydney's western suburbs
Greater Western Sydney
Greater Western Sydney is a term used to describe the western region of the metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia. The University of Western Sydney defines Greater Western Sydney as comprising 14 local government areas...
. Over the next 30 years, Lowy and Saunders developed shopping centres across Australia and the United States (from 1977); changing the name of the company to the Westfield Group and listing the company on the Australian Stock Exchange
Australian Stock Exchange
The Australian Securities Exchange was created by the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange in July 2006. It is the primary stock exchange group in Australia....
in 1960. Saunders sold his interests and left the company in 1987; meanwhile Lowy took the company to New Zealand (in the 1990s) and the United Kingdom (in the 2000s).
In 2008 Lowy and related interests were mentioned in documents stolen from the LGT Bank of Lichtenstein by a former employee. A subsequent US Senate probe and an Australian Taxation Office
Australian Taxation Office
The Australian Taxation Office is an Australian Government statutory agency and the principal revenue collection body for the Australian Government. The ATO has responsibility for administering the Australian federal taxation system and superannuation legislation...
audit in which Lowy and his sons, David and Steven, were investigated on their involvement with financial institutions in tax havens located in Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein
The Principality of Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked alpine country in Central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over , and it has an estimated population of 35,000. Its capital is Vaduz. The biggest town is Schaan...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. Lowy maintained he hadn't done anything wrong.
Lowy has appeared on the BRW Rich 200 list every year since it was first published in 1983. In 2010, the Business Review Weekly
Business Review Weekly
BRW is an Australian weekly business magazine published by the Fairfax Media group. It regularly compiles lists which rank corporations and individuals according to various criteria, similar to Fortune magazine in the United States.BRW provides news and commentary on the economy, business and...
measured Lowy's wealth at A$5.04 billion, making him Australia's richest person at that time.
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.
Personal life
Married to Shirley, Lowy has three sons, Peter and Steven, who manage the Westfield business, and David, who manages the family's private investments.In an Australian television production
ABC1
ABC1 was a United Kingdom based television channel from Disney using the branding of the Disney owned American network, ABC.The channel initially launched exclusively on the British digital terrestrial television platform Freeview on 27 September 2004. On 10 December 2004 it was launched on...
broadcast in 2010, called Family Confidential, it was revealed that Lowy had kept a secret about his survival in Nazi–occupied Hungary. 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
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
while protecting Hugo's brother, Myer Lowy until a chance meeting between Myer and Peter Lowy in Los Angles in 1991. 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.
Football in Australia
A long supporter of football in AustraliaFootball (soccer) in Australia
Soccer is a popular recreational and professional sport in Australia. The sport has a high level of participation in Australia. The fully professional A-League domestic competition has been operating since 2005 and the national team competes in the Asian Football Confederation...
, Lowy was elected Chairman of the Football Federation Australia
Football Federation Australia
Football Federation Australia is the governing body for the sport of football in Australia. Before 1 January 2005, it was known as the Australian Soccer Association , which succeeded Soccer Australia in this role in 2003...
(FFA) in 2003. Some observers credit him and John O'Neill
John O'Neill (sport administrator)
John O'Neill is an Australian sporting administrator. He has been involved with both rugby union and football at the national level, after being head of the NSW State Bank...
, a former rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
executive, with resurrecting football in Australia. A well structured A-League
A-League
The A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia , it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company...
is now in place, and the country has become a member of the Asian Football Confederation
Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football in Asia. It has 46 member countries, mostly located on the Asian continent. However, due to the disputed boundary of Europe and Asia, nations such as Russia and Turkey which are located mostly in geographic Asia are...
. Although, there is some pressure for Lowy to step aside as Chairman of the FFA when his term expires in October 2011. In September 2008, it was announced the Lowy was appointed to the FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
board.
In 2007 Lowy commenced a campaign to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup
2022 FIFA World Cup
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be the 22nd FIFA World Cup, an international association football tournament that is scheduled to take place in 2022 in Qatar. The competition is scheduled to take place in June and July, although proposals have been made for a winter season. The tournament will involve...
in Australia backed with A$46 million support from the Australia Government. In 2010, amid allegations of bribbery, politics, and back-scratching, FIFA awarded Qatar the rights to host the World Cup.
Philanthropy
Lowy has a reputation for giving of his time and financial support to a broad range of causes. Lowy was appointed a Director of the Reserve Bank of AustraliaReserve Bank of Australia
The Reserve Bank of Australia came into being on 14 January 1960 as Australia's central bank and banknote issuing authority, when the Reserve Bank Act 1959 removed the central banking functions from the Commonwealth Bank to it....
in 1995, and was reappointed in 2000 and 2003, concluding his term in 2005. 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.
Awarded the title of Australia’s leading philanthropist by peak body, Philanthropy Australia, with donations in 2002 of A$10 million, the same year Lowy was reported to have answered a call by Australia's Prime Minster
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
to donate his annual salary of approximately A$11 million to charity.
In April 2003 to mark the 50th anniversay of his arrival in Australia, Lowy established the Lowy Institute for International Policy
Lowy Institute for International Policy
The Lowy Institute for International Policy is an independent think tank endowed by Frank Lowy to conduct original, policy-relevant research about international political, strategic and economic issues from an Australian perspective. It is based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
, an independent international policy think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
devoted to foreign affairs, and Australia's role in the world. It was reported that a gift of A$30 million was made to establish the Institute. Lowy's gift has led to him being awarded the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship in 2005 by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars , located in Washington, D.C., is a United States Presidential Memorial that was established as part of the Smithsonian Institution by an act of Congress in 1968...
.
On 2 October 2007 Lowy received the Henni Friedlander Award for the Common Good at Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...
in Brunswick, Maine
Brunswick, Maine
Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 20,278 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, , and the...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Together with the Packer
Kerry Packer
Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer, AC was an Australian media tycoon. The son of Sir Frank Packer and Gretel Bullmore, the Packer family company owned controlling interest in both the Nine television network and leading Australian publishing company Australian Consolidated Press, which were later...
family, in 2008 Lowy made an undisclosed gift towards the Victor Chang
Victor Chang
Victor Peter Chang, AC , was a Chinese Australian cardiac surgeon and a pioneer of modern heart transplantation. Born in Shanghai to Australian-born Chinese parents, he grew up in Hong Kong before moving to Australia...
Cardiac Research Institute
Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute
The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute or VCCRI is a scientific institution based in Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia. The institute opened in 1994, three years after the death of renowned heart surgeon Dr Victor Chang...
. In 2010, Lowy and his family gifted 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
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
.
In 2008 Lowy was honoured by Australia Post
Australia Post
Australia Post is the trading name of the Australian Government-owned Australian Postal Corporation .-History:...
for his contribution to philanthropy as one of the nation's five leading, living philanthropists with a commemorative
Commemorative stamp
A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event or person. The subject of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike definitive stamps which normally depict the subject along with the...
postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
that was released on the eve of Australia Day as part of the Australian Legends
Australian Legends
The Australian Legends is an annual series of commemorative postage stamps issued by Australia Post since 1997. The stamps commemorate living Australians who have made lifetime contributions to the development of the Commonwealth's national identity and character...
series.