Mark Arena (born 28 September 1984) is an Australian businessman and cyber security entrepreneur. He co-founded Intel 471 in 2014 and became majority owner of the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Perth Arena, ...

basketball team in 2024.

Early life

Arena was born in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. He grew up in Greenwood, went to school at Sacred Heart College and then studied software engineering at

Edith Cowan University Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a public research university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Parliaments of the Australian states and territories, Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and is, , t ...

Career

Arena started his career as a technical specialist for the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal Federal police, federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government responsible for investigating Crime in Australia, crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, where he tracked cyber criminals. He later moved to the Netherlands. In 2014, Arena co-founded Intel 471, a company that tracked criminals and sold intelligence on cyber threats. He moved back to Perth after selling his company in 2023. In May 2024, MT Arena Capital Investment Property Limited (MTACI) made a non-binding indicative offer for National Basketball League (NBL) club, the

. In July 2024, Sports Entertainment Group agreed to sell 90% of their 95% shareholder ownership of the Wildcats to Arena at an estimated value of $40 million. On 14 August 2024, Arena officially became the majority owner of the Wildcats after purchasing 52.5 per cent of the club for $21 million. He will provide another payment of $15 million in 2026 to receive an extra 37.5 per cent and can then buy the entire club in 2028.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arena, Mark 1984 births Australian businesspeople People educated at Sacred Heart College, Sorrento Sports owners Living people