Frank Lowy

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.