Geoff Harris
{{Short description|Australian businessman & philanthropist}}
{{otherpeople|Geoffrey Harris}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Geoff Harris
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = circa {{birth year and age|1952}}{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/geoff-harris/ |title=2015 Australia's 50 Richest: #50 Geoff Harris |work=Forbes Asia |date=31 January 2015 |accessdate=14 June 2015}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| nationality =
| other_names =
| known_for = Co-founder of Flight Centre
| education =
| employer =
| occupation = Businessman, philanthropist
| title =
| term =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| party =
| boards =
| spouse = div.
| children = 3
| parents =
| relatives =
}}
Geoff Harris (born ca. 1952) is an Australian businessman and philanthropist.
Biography
Born circa 1952, Harris is the son of a grocer and World War II veteran who served in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea.{{cite news |author=Coates, Pip |title=To Have And To Hold: Geoff Harris. Worth: $975 million. Rank: 40 |work=The Australian Financial Review Magazine |date=July 2014 |page=22 }} He was bullied at school as a teenager, and later dropped out.{{cite news |author=Short, Michael |url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/geoff-harris-helping-youth-take-off-20140330-35res.html |title=Geoff Harris: Helping youth take off |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=31 March 2014 }}
Harris is a co-founder of Flight Centre with Graham Turner and Bill James in 1981–1982. He served as a company executive until 1998 and as a non-executive director until 2008.{{cite journal |url=http://www.brw.com.au/p/lists/rich-200/2013/geoff_harris_qY8sJmrokngYHPcCCAq23K |title=BRW Rich 200: 49. Geoff Harris |journal=BRW |date=22 May 2013 |location=Sydney }}{{cite journal |author=Fitzsimmons, Caitlin |url=http://www.brw.com.au/p/investing/year_rich_lister_geoff_harris_for_YdEcnNugFV3YxTdABjQuwM |title=Why rich lister Geoff Harris is letting this Melbourne mansion for $5 a year |journal=BRW |location=Sydney |date=23 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304094030/http://www.brw.com.au/p/investing/year_rich_lister_geoff_harris_for_YdEcnNugFV3YxTdABjQuwM |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }} In 2013, he was its biggest shareholder. He was also an early investor in Boost Juice. In 2003, he acquired Top Deck Travel UK with five other investors.
He served as the Vice President of the Hawthorn Football Club.
Personal life
=Personal wealth=
In 2019, Harris' net worth was estimated to be A$851 million, listed on the Financial Review 2019 Rich List and, in 2015, {{USD}}550 million, listed last on Forbes list of Australia's 50 Richest people. Harris' net worth did not meet the {{AUD}}472 million cut-off for the Financial Review 2020 Rich List.{{cite web|url=https://www.afr.com/rich-list/the-10-richest-australians-revealed-20201028-p569c7|url-access=subscription|title=The full list: Australia's wealthiest 200 revealed|work=The Australian Financial Review|publisher=Nine Publishing|date=30 October 2020|author1=Bailey, Michael|author2=Sprague, Julie-anne|accessdate=31 October 2020}}
{{columns-start}}
{{column}}
| class="wikitable"
!colspan="2"|Legend |
| Icon
! Description |
|---|
| {{steady}}
|Has not changed from the previous year |
| {{profit}}
|Has increased from the previous year |
| {{loss}}
|Has decreased from the previous year |
{{columns-end}}
=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 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 treatment, for which Harris paid.{{cite web |url=http://www.hawthornfc.com.au/video/2017-10-07/pcm-alastair-clarkson |title=PCM Speech: Alastair Clarkson |work=Hawthorn FC |date=8 October 2017 |accessdate=8 October 2017}}