Frank Lowy

Frank Lowy, AC (born 22 October 1930 in Fiľakovo (Hungarian: Fülek), Czechoslovakia) is an Australian-Israeli businessman and was ranked #1 on the BRW Rich 200 list in 2010. 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.

Biography

Early life

Lowy was born in Czechoslovakia, 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.

Career

In 1952, Lowy left Qiryat Tivon, 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...
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