Harry Triguboff - Biography

Harry Oscar Triguboff AO (born 3 March 1933) is an Australian property developer and strong proponent of population growth in Australia to a hundred million. Also known as "High-Rise Harry"

Early life

He was born in Dalian (Darien at the time), China on 3 March 1933, the son of Russian Jews who fled to northeastern China after the rise of Lenin. He spent his early childhood in the White Russian Jewish community in Tianjin (then spelled Tientsin, just nearby Beijing and also the third largest city now in China) before coming to Australia in 1947 to be educated at the Scots College in Sydney. He later graduated with a degree in textiles from Leeds University in England before working in textile businesses in Israel and South Africa.

He returned to Australia in 1960 and became an Australian citizen in 1961. He did a variety of odd jobs including driving a taxi and owning a milk round in Chatswood. He tried selling real estate and worked as an assistant to a lecturer at university but still wasn't successful at either. He then bought some land in Roseville and hired a builder to begin building his house. The builder turned out to be awful, so Triguboff threw him out and finished the job himself, learning from his mistakes.

Meriton Apartments

From the experience gained in the initial development, Triguboff bought a second block of land in 1963, this time at Tempe in Smith Street and began building a block of eight units with a partner. This led to a second development in 1968 in Gladesville. At Meriton Street, Triguboff built a block of 18 units which provided the name of the company he registered in 1968. Since that time he has evolved into one of Australia's most successful property developers.

Triguboff is the chairman and managing director of Meriton Apartments Pty Ltd which has built almost 50,000 residential dwellings, mainly townhouses and apartments, since its creation in 1963, making it Australia's biggest residential property developer. In 2010, Meriton was said to develop an average of 1000 apartments per year. In particular, Triguboff has concentrated on the Gold Coast and Brisbane in Queensland, and Sydney's central business district, selling more apartments than any other Australian residential developer.

In 2004, Meriton completed the construction of World Tower, Sydney's tallest residential apartment building.

The company has been a sponsor of the Wests Tigers (and their predecessor, Balmain) since 1998.

Personal life

Triguboff is married and has two daughters. He lives in Sydney and owns a collection of cars. He never enters any business partnerships nor joint ventures.

Wealth

As at May 2011, the Business Review Weekly magazine assessed Triguboff's net wealth at A$4.30 billion, an increase of A$0.10 billion, making him the seventh richest person in Australia. A year earlier, Forbes magazine's annual billionaires list had assessed Triguboff as the 316th wealthiest billionaire in the world. His earnings result from leasing most of his developments to short and long term tenants, with benefits from capital appreciation.

As a major provider of affordable housing, he donates heavily to political parties and uses his influence to seek policy changes. In August 2010, he proposed that the federal government should insist on Reserve Bank interest rates being dropped to improve housing affordability.

Triguboff participated in a 2010 Business Review Weekly magazine contest to "Win a Week With a Billionaire". Three young finalists were flown to Sydney where they spent a week at Meriton being mentored by Triguboff.

Honours

Triguboff was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1990 and an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1999 for his contributions to philanthropy and the housing industry. He was the first person to win Australia's Property Person of the Year award twice; he first won the award in 2003 and then again in 2009.

External links

• Meriton website