Geoff Harris (born '' ca''. 1952) is an Australian businessman and philanthropist.

Biography

Born ''

circa Circa is a Latin word meaning "around, approximately". Circa or CIRCA may also refer to: * CIRCA (art platform), in London * Circa (band), a progressive rock supergroup * Circa (company), an American skateboard footwear company * Circa (contempora ...

'' 1952, Harris is the son of a grocer and World War II veteran who served in

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. He was bullied at school as a teenager, and later dropped out. Harris is a co-founder of

Flight Centre Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) is an Australian travel agency. It was founded in 1982, and is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia. FCTG operates under multiple names in Australia, New Zealand, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, South ...

with

Graham Turner Graham John Turner (born 5 October 1947) is an English former footballer who became a manager. His son Mark was also a professional footballer. He is fourth behind only Alex Ferguson, Neil Warnock and Arsène Wenger in terms of most games man ...

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 Boost Juice Bars is an Australian multinational retail outlet owned by parent company Retail Zoo that specialise in fruit juice and smoothies. Boost Juice Bars was formed in 2000 with the first store located in Adelaide, South Australia. The ...

. In 2003, he acquired Top Deck Travel UK with five other investors. He served as the Vice President of the

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawth ...

Personal life

Harris lives in Melbourne. He is interested in

military history Military history is the study of War, armed conflict in the Human history, history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to Politics, local and international relationship ...

, and has visited war sites in Malaysia, Vietnam and France.

Personal wealth

In 2019, Harris'

net worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, so net w ...

was estimated to be A$851 million, listed on the ''

Financial Review The ''Australian Financial Review'' (''AFR'') is an Australian compact daily newspaper with a focus on business, politics and economic affairs. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and has been published continuously since its foun ...

'' 2019 Rich List and, in 2015, 550 million, listed last on ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' list of Australia's 50 Richest people. Harris' net worth did not meet the 472 million cut-off for the ''Financial Review'' 2020 Rich List.

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 James Peter Stynes OAM (23 April 196620 March 2012) was an Irish footballer who converted from Gaelic football to Australian rules football and the first international player to be inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2003. ...

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. Harris also provided financial support for the treatment of Hawthorn Football Club player Jarryd Roughead during his fight against cancer. Roughead had previously found cancerous melanoma in his lip in the 2015 season, only to have it come back in the 2016 season. This required an expensive

immunotherapy Immunotherapy or biological therapy is the treatment of disease by activating or suppressing the immune system. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as ''activation immunotherapies,'' while immunotherap ...

treatment, for which Harris paid.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Geoff Living people Businesspeople from Melbourne Philanthropists from Melbourne Hawthorn Football Club administrators Australian company founders 1952 births