Frank Lowy was a busy man.
He built many big shops. He also helped many people. He gave money to help find cures for sickness. He worked hard to help his country. Do you like to go to big shops?
Frank Lowy was a very busy man.
He built many big shopping centres. These shops are in many lands. He even helped lead a group for football.
He also gave much money to help others. He helped find ways to fight sickness. He started a group to study the world. He was a very important leader.
Frank Lowy was a famous businessman.
He was born in Czechoslovakia. During World War II, he had to live in a ghetto in Hungary.
Lowy moved to Australia in 1952. He joined his family to start a business. He soon met John Saunders. They became partners. Together, they made Westfield. This company built many large shopping centres. These centres are in places like the United States and the United Kingdom. Lowy became very wealthy. In 2010, he was Australia's richest person.
Lowy also helped with sports. He was the chairman of Football Federation Australia. This group helps run football in the country. He also helped make the A-League.
Lowy gave much money to help people. He is a philanthropist, which means he gives money to good causes. He started the Lowy Institute. This is a think tank, or a group that studies world affairs. He also gave money to help find new ways to treat cancer.
He received many awards for his work. Lowy died in Israel in 2020.
Sir Frank Lowy was a very successful businessman and a famous philanthropist. A philanthropist is someone who gives a lot of money to help others.
He was born on October 22, 1930, in Czechoslovakia. During World War II, he had to live in a ghetto in Hungary. He later moved to France in 1946. He tried to sail to Mandatory Palestine on a ship called the Yagur. However, British authorities caught him and sent him to a camp in Cyprus. He later fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War in the Galilee and Gaza. These early years shaped the man he would become.
Lowy's big business success began after he moved to Australia in 1952. He joined his family to deliver small goods. In 1953, he met a man named John Saunders. They became partners and started the Westfield Development Corporation. They first built a shopping centre at Blacktown in Sydney.
Over thirty years, they built more centres in Australia and the United States. The company was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1960. Later, Lowy took the business to New Zealand and the United Kingdom. In 2018, a French company called Unibail-Rodamco bought Westfield Corporation.
Lowy also worked hard to help the sport of football in Australia. He was the chairman of Football Federation Australia from 2003 to 2015. He helped create the A-League, which is a professional football league. He even tried to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Australia. This plan had 43 million dollars of support from the Australian government. However, the tournament was eventually given to Qatar in 2010. Lowy's work helped make football a much bigger part of Australian life. He eventually handed his role in the sport over to his son, Steven.
Lowy was known for being one of the wealthiest people in Australia. In 2010, the BRW magazine said he was the richest person in the country. His wealth grew a lot over many years. In 2016, his net worth was 8.26 billion dollars. By 2025, the Financial Review Rich List estimated his worth at 10.28 billion dollars. He also appeared on the Forbes Asia list. This list showed he was one of the richest people in Australia. His business success allowed him to fund many important projects.
He used his money to support many different causes. He started the Lowy Institute in 2003 to study world affairs. This group is a think tank, which is a place where experts study big ideas. He also gave 10 million dollars to help build a cancer research centre at UNSW. His wife, Shirley, started a foundation to find better ways to treat cancer.
In 2013, he visited Auschwitz-Birkenau to remember his father, Hugo. He spoke to students about his family's history there. Lowy passed away in Tel Aviv in December 2020.
Sir Frank P. Lowy was a prominent Australian and Israeli businessman and philanthropist. He is most famous for his leadership of the Westfield Corporation. This company became a global leader in shopping centre management. It held billions of dollars in assets across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe.
In June 2018, the Westfield Corporation was acquired by a French company named Unibail-Rodamco. Lowy also served as the inaugural chairman of the Scentre Group. This group manages Westfield-branded centres in Australia and New Zealand. His influence extended into global policy and national security through various leadership roles.
Lowy's life began with significant challenges during World War II. He was born on October 22, 1930, in Czechoslovakia. During the war, he was forced to live in a ghetto in Hungary. In 1946, he traveled to France to board a ship called the Yagur. He intended to reach Mandatory Palestine, but British authorities intercepted him. He was sent to a detention camp in Cyprus. Later, he joined the Haganah and the Golani Brigade. He fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War in the Gaza and Galilee regions.
His business career took off after he moved to Australia in 1952. He initially joined his family to deliver small goods. In 1953, he met John Saunders, who became his business partner. Together, they formed the Westfield Development Corporation. They began by developing a shopping centre in Blacktown, a suburb of Sydney. In 1960, they listed the company on the Australian Stock Exchange. Over the next 30 years, they expanded into the United States. By the 1990s, Lowy expanded the business into New Zealand. He later brought the company to the United Kingdom during the 2000s.
Lowy was a major figure in Australian sports administration. He served as the chairman of Football Federation Australia from 2003 to 2015. He helped manage the transition from Soccer Australia to this new federation. This change followed the recommendations of the Crawford Report. Lowy helped establish the A-League, which is a professional football competition. He also led a campaign to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Australia. This effort received 43 million dollars in support from the Australian government. However, FIFA eventually awarded the tournament to Qatar in 2010.
His financial success placed him among the wealthiest individuals in Australia. In 2010, BRW magazine named him the richest person in the country. His net worth was estimated at 5.04 billion dollars at that time. By 2016, his wealth grew to 8.26 billion dollars. The Financial Review Rich List estimated his net worth at 10.28 billion dollars in 2025.
These figures reflect decades of successful property development and investment. He was one of only seven people to appear on the Rich List since its 1984 debut.
Lowy used much of his wealth for philanthropy, which means giving to charitable causes. He founded the Lowy Institute in 2003 to study foreign affairs. This think tank, or research group, is a leading institution in Australia. He also contributed 10 million dollars to the UNSW Lowy Cancer Research Centre. This centre is a collaboration between the University of New South Wales and the Children's Cancer Institute Australia. In 2022, he donated 18 million dollars to Tel Aviv University. His wife, Shirley, founded the Chai Foundation to fund research into less toxic cancer therapies.
Personal loss and memory also played a role in his public life. In 2013, Lowy attended the March of the Living at Auschwitz-Birkenau. He shared the story of his father, Hugo Lowy, who died during the Holocaust. Hugo was killed for refusing to leave his Jewish prayer items behind. To honor him, Frank commissioned the restoration of a railway wagon used during the Holocaust. He placed this wagon at the site as a memorial. Lowy passed away in Tel Aviv in December 2020 after a long battle with dementia.
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