Robert James Champion de Crespigny, AC (born 1950) is a multi-millionaire Australian businessman and founder of Normandy Mining Limited. Currently estimated with his ownership in PBE and Rutherford corporations his net worth is near 1B. In 2004 his personal wealth was approximately $170 million. He has held numerous influential positions in corporate and public life, including serving as chancellor of the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

(2000-2004) and chair of the South Australian

Economic Development Board The Economic Development Board (EDB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Singapore that plans and executes strategies to sustain Singapore as a leading global hub for business and investment. Hi ...

(2002-2006). As of 2014, he continues to advise the Government of South Australia through his role on the South Australian Minerals & Petroleum Expert Group (SAMPEG) for the Department of State Development. He currently resides in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Career

Champion de Crespigny was educated at

Melbourne Grammar School (Pray and Work) , established = 1849 (on present site since 1858 - the celebrated date of foundation) , type = Independent, co-educational primary, single-sex boys secondary, day and boarding , denomination ...

and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

, from which he graduated with a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

degree. During his university studies, he was resident at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

. He subsequently qualified as a Chartered Accountant and practised for 13 years with KMG Hungerford in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

. He was a partner at the firm for 10 years.

Mining

In October 1985, he left the accounting profession and formed Normandy Mining Limited. He remained its executive chairman through its 17 years of activity. In 1988, Champion de Crespigny and his family moved to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

when it took control of Poseidon Limited. Normandy was taken over by Newmont Mining in 2002 but he and his family remained in Adelaide. In early 1999, Normandy made an offer for Great Central Mines, a company led by the ordained Rabbi Joseph Gutnick,Minerals boom leads to Bronzewing revival
''

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

'', broadcast: 27 November 2006, accessed: 15 December 2009 through Yandal Gold, a company it owned a 49.9% interest in. This offer came under investigation from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, which demanded a termination of the offer on 23 March 1999. Gutnick and Crespigny were found to have illegally structured a takeover of the company and Gutnick was ordered to return $28.5 million to investors. The court found that their behaviour in jointly bidding $450 million earlier that year for Great Central Mines was unlawful and deceptive. Both Gutnick and Crespigny had shareholdings in GMC before this bid was launched, and they agreed together to form the Yandal Gold company. The court found however, that it was only Gutnick who received any benefit and it was therefore him who had to pay the $28.5 million. The deal nevertheless went ahead and brought the Bronzewing, Jundee and Wiluna Gold Mines to the company. In September 2001, at the start of the AngloGold -

Newmont Newmont Corporation is a gold mining company based in Greenwood Village, Colorado, United States. It is the world's largest gold mining corporation. Incorporated in 1921, it owns gold mines in Nevada, Colorado, Ontario, Quebec, Mexico, the Domin ...

takeover war for Normandy, Champion de Crespigny warned that Australia could lose control of more gold assets because of a lack of support from local institutional investors. He argued for the support of Western Mining, should his own company fall to foreign investment. Champion de Crespigny sits on a number of company boards, including serving as chairman of market research firm Crosby Textor (founded by

Lynton Crosby Sir Lynton Keith Crosby (born 23 August 1956)''Who's Who in Australia 2015'', ConnectWeb. is an Australian political strategist who has managed election campaigns for right-of-centre parties in several countries. Crosby has been described as ...

and Mark Textor). In February 2010,

Barclays Capital Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

announced that de Crespigny had joined the advisory panel of its natural resource investment business. Champion de Crespigny has furthered the interests of the resources sector through his membership of various associations. These include the Australian Gold Council (Chairman), the

World Gold Council The World Gold Council is the market development organisation for the gold industry. It works across all parts of the industry, from gold mining to investment, with the aim of stimulating and sustaining demand for gold. They frequently publish ...

, the Minerals Council of Australia and the

Business Council of Australia The Business Council of Australia (BCA) is an industry association that comprises the chief executives of more than 100 of Australia's biggest corporations. It was formed in 1983 by the merger of the Business Roundtable – a spin-off of the Comm ...

. At the invitation of Premier

Mike Rann Michael David Rann, , (born 5 January 1953) is an Australian former politician who was the 44th premier of South Australia from 2002 to 2011. He was later Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2014, and Australian am ...

of South Australia, he chaired the South Australian

from 2002 until 2006. He also served on the executive committee of Cabinet of the Government of South Australia. As of 2014, de Crespigny continues to serve on the South Australian Minerals & Petroleum Expert Group (SAMPEG) for the Department of State Development which provides advice to the Government of South Australia.

Other associations

He has also been a member of a number of arts and cultural associations. These include the

Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Reconciliation in Australia is a process which officially began in 1991, focused on the improvement of race relations between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia and the rest of the population. The Council for Aboriginal ...

, the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

Council, the Commonwealth Expert Group on Democracy and Development and the

South Australian Museum The South Australian Museum is a natural history museum and research institution in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1856 and owned by the Government of South Australia. It occupies a complex of buildings on North Terrace in the cultu ...

. De Crespigny was the chair of the board of the

from 1992 to 2002. Champion de Crespigny was the thirteenth chancellor of the

from 1 June 2000 until 26 July 2004. In January 2014, de Crespigny was announced as Patron of 'Believe – The Campaign for the University of Melbourne.'

Honours

In 2002, Champion de Crespigny was awarded the

Companion of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for his service to the

mining industry Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

, to business and to the community in the areas of cultural preservation and education. He was also in the same year awarded the South Australian Director of the Year by the Australian Institute of Company Directors and South Australian of the Year for 2002 by SA Great. He was honoured by having the mineral Decrespignyite-(Y) named after him in 2002, for his contributions to Australian education, the

and in the Australian mining industry. In 1993 he was awarded Australian Businessman of the Year.

References

External links