Spouse(s) div. Children 3 | Name Geoff Harris Residence Melbourne, Australia | |
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Occupation Businessman, philanthropist Net worth A$881 million (BRW 2015)US$550 million (Forbes 2015) | ||
Geoff harris 800m
For the Canadian middle-distance runner, see Geoffrey Harris.
Contents
- Geoff harris 800m
- Teri Morris speaking to Geoff Harris WLR about creating Your Own Website
- Biography
- Personal life
- Personal wealth
- Philanthropy
- References
Geoff Harris (born ca. 1952) is an Australian businessman and philanthropist.
Teri Morris speaking to Geoff Harris, WLR about creating Your Own Website
Biography
Born circa 1952, Harris is the son of a grocer and World War II veteran who served in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea. He was bullied at school as a teenager, and later dropped out.
Harris is a co-founder of Flight Centre with Graham Turner and Bill James in 1981-1982. He served as a company executive until 1998 and as a non-executive director until 2008. In 2013, he was its biggest shareholder. He was also an early investor in Boost Juice. In 2003, he acquired Top Deck Travel UK with five other investors.
He served as the Vice President of the Hawthorn Football Club.
Personal life
Harris lives in Melbourne. In 2014, he purchased a historic Victorian manor for A$12 million in Albert Park, a suburb of Melbourne. He is divorced, and has three children. He is interested in military history, and has visited war sites in Malaysia, Vietnam and France.
Personal wealth
In 2015, Harris' net worth was estimated to be A$881 million, listed on the BRW Rich 200 and US$550 million, listed on Forbes list of Australia's 50 Richest people.
Philanthropy
In 1999, Harris acquired an A$2.5 million house for the Reach Foundation, a non-profit organization whose aim is to provide unprivileged young people with access to mental health, co-founded by football player Jim Stynes and film director Paul Currie.
Similarly, in 2013, he acquired Cromwell Manor, an A$2.5 million historic mansion in Collingwood, a suburb of Melbourne, to rent it for A$5 per annum to STREAT, a non-profit organization which teaches the homeless skills to start a career in hospitality. He has also donated A$450,000 to STREAT. The non-profit is run as a business, and Harris is also an impact investor, having invested A$55,000.
Harris covers the annual rent for the headquarters of Whitelion Open Family, a non-profit organization for at-risk young people.