Lindsay Fox

Early life

Lindsay Fox was born on 19 April 1937 and brought up in Prahran, a suburb of Melbourne. He attended Melbourne High School, but was asked to leave during Year 10, at age 16, due to his lack of academic interest. He started working as a truck driver and was able to use this as a springboard to found Linfox.

Football career

For many of his earlier years, Fox played Australian rules football with moderate success. After playing in the St Kilda Football Club's thirds side (which he captained), Fox went to Golden Point Football Club in the Ballarat Football League then made his Victorian Football League debut for St Kilda in 1960. He did not think much of his footballing abilities, but as a ruckman he went on to play 20 games (for 3 goals) from 1959 to 1961. Following his stint in the VFL, he went to the Victorian Football Association (VFA), playing firstly for Moorabbin, where he won a premiership, and then for Brighton-Caulfield after Moorabbin was expelled from the VFA.

He became the president of the St Kilda Football Club in 1979.

Business interests

Fox started Linfox in 1956 with one truck.

He also took ownership of Melbourne's Luna Park in late 2005. In 2006, he made an unsuccessful bid for the development of the neighboring Triangle Site on St Kilda's foreshore. The property was subsequently destroyed by fire.

He has been involved with a number of high-profile disputes with the Government relating to his property development activities. In the late 1990s he attempted to claim the public beach area in front of his holiday home as a private helipad for his helicopter and to build a high security compound for himself and his family. This development was rejected by the Victorian Planning Minister. However he has also been able to use his government contacts to gain favorable treatment by being granted permission to land his helicopter near his Portsea home on crown land.

Fox has been in dispute with the local council of his Toorak mansion by attempting to have the heritage listing that applies to all homes in the street removed from his property. His son's Toorak home was destroyed by fire.

Awards and recognition

Fox was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours' List of 1992, in recognition of service to the transport industry and to the community. In 2001, he was awarded the Centenary Medal.

In 2008, Fox was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), in recognition of his continued service to the transport and logistics industries, to business through the development and promotion of youth traineeships, and to the community through a range of philanthropic endeavours.

In April 2022, it was announced that the new gallery, part of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) would be named The Fox: NGV Contemporary, in recognition of a $100 million donation from the Foxes.

Personal life

Fox married Paula Grace Peele in 1959 (now Paula Fox .), and they have six children, all born before he was 30 years old.

In 2004 on the ABC TV George Negus Tonight program, Fox's work ethic and business savviness was profiled. When asked by George Negus how he describes himself politically, Fox replied: "I guess, Labor think I'm Liberal, Liberal think I'm Labor, the Catholics think I'm Protestant, the Protestants think I'm Catholic. The local rabbi delivers me matzah. So I guess, bottom line, I'm an Australian". Fox went on to say: "I, traditionally, probably, was brought up in a working-class family where the old man would turn in his grave if he'd thought I'd have voted Liberal. But I must admit, from probably 25 up to the last election, I would have voted Liberal and supported Liberal quite strongly. But I was completely disillusioned by the lack of statesmanship with our Prime Minister with the Ansett debacle. He had an opportunity to be a statesman. Instead he took on a political role and as a result of that, the demise of Ansett came about".

Following the suicide of his son Michael in 1991, Fox advised the Federal and Victorian governments on youth suicide and was appointed to the board of the National Advisory Council on Suicide Prevention. In 1992 he was named "Victorian Father of the Year". In an interview with George Negus in August 2004, Fox spoke of the loss of his son: "Well, life is about being up and being down and being able to get up again. And in my walks of life, I guess I thought I was invincible till one of my sons committed suicide. And at that point of time, I knew I wasn't invincible ... I'd give up everything if we could get Michael back. He's got a special place in each and every one of the hearts of our family and he'll always be there and he'll never grow old."

Fox has a collection of over 50 cars. The collection is displayed to the public at the Fox Classic Car Museum in Docklands. The collection and museum is managed by the Fox Family Trust.

Net worth

In 2019, the Australian Financial Review assessed Fox's net worth at 3.72 billion, listed on the 2020 Rich List. , his net worth was assessed at 5.73 billion, and Fox was one of seven living Australians who have appeared in every Financial Review Rich List, or its predecessor, the BRW Rich 200, since it was first published in 1984.

In 2019 Forbes assessed his net worth at 3.50 billion, on the list of Australia's 50 richest people.

References

References

1. Motiyani, Chanda. (2024-07-10). "Special feature: Driven by purpose 87 years strong".
2. Hawthorne, Mark. (26 January 2008). "Trucking magnate Lindsay Fox, AC, plugs into the power of dreams". [[The Age]].
3. Scot Palmer. (8 April 1964). "Moorabbin windfall to 'wooden-spooner'". The Sun News-Pictorial.
4. [https://www.saints.com.au/news/1476411/vale-sheena-ferguson Vale, Sheena Ferguson] [[St Kilda Football Club]]
5. (12 February 2007). "Australia and New Zealand's 40 Richest". [[Forbes]].
6. (23 June 2005). "Luna Park fan Fox follows his heart". [[The Age]].
7. Collier, Karen. (25 November 2006). "Lindsay Fox in resort brawl". [[Herald Sun]].
8. (27 August 2006). "Phillip Island may never be the same". [[The Age]].
9. Minister for Planning. "Minister reject house-sized boatshed". Victorian Government.
10. [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200212/s742757.htm ABC News Online] {{dead link. (June 2016)
11. (7 May 2003). "Now it's Fox's Toorak house in a planning wrangle". [[The Age]].
12. (15 April 2004). "Fox family home gutted in fire". The Age.
13. (26 January 1992). "FOX Lindsay: Officer of the Order of Australia". Commonwealth of Australia.
14. (1 January 2001). "FOX Lindsay: Centenary Medal". Commonwealth of Australia.
15. (26 January 2008). "FOX Lindsay: Companion of the Order of Australia". Commonwealth of Australia.
16. (20 April 2022). "Foxes' $100 million NGV gift a generous vote of confidence in Melbourne".
17. (8 December 2004). "GNT Profile: Lindsay Fox". [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
18. [http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/ysp/bulletin4.pdf "Youth Suicide Prevention Bulletin"]. [[Australian Institute of Family Studies]]. October 2000.
19. Haralampopoulos, Aristomenios. (2021-05-16). "Lindsay Fox Has A Car Collection Anyone Would Envy".
20. Car, Sean. (2023-11-29). "A look inside the Fox Classic Car Collection".
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23. (21 April 2011). "Chinese abandon Triguboff's Meriton Apartments". [[The Australian]].
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31. (March 2015). "2015 Australia's 50 Richest: #9 Lindsay Fox". Forbes Asia.
32. (29 May 2016). "2016 BRW Rich 200 list: Lindsay Fox". [[Financial Review]].
33. (25 May 2017). "Financial Review Rich List 2017". [[Financial Review]].
34. Stensholt, John. (25 May 2018). "2018 AFR Rich List: Who are Australia's richest people?". Fairfax Media.
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36. (January 2019). "2019 Australia's 50 Richest". Forbes Asia.
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40. (30 May 2024). "Australia's wealthiest 200 now control $625b". [[Australian Financial Review]].
41. (30 May 2025). "Australia’s wealthiest 200 revealed, fortunes blow past $667b". [[Australian Financial Review]].