Page 22 - Forbes - Asia (October 2019)

ENTREPRENEURS

most important wisdom he has impart- Scots, because I know the kids there, I They might lose everything. So at least,
ed to his grandsons is that “the more know the school and I want it to con- I have to leave them something.”
money you make, the harder you work, tinue progressing.” Yet a greater share of A telling anecdote about Triguboff:
if you want the business to survive and his support has gone to Jewish schools, Among the images of the rich and pow-
grow.” He adds: “These are hard things Triguboff says, because he thinks Jewish erful that occupy the walls of his cen-
to know. They teach you facts in school, Australians should retain their heritage. tral Sydney office is a framed clipping
but they don’t teach you this.” Charity begins at home, though. “Of of the Forbes 2019 Billionaires list, plac-
Triguboff is a strong advocate of ed- course, I must make sure that I leave ing Triguboff’s as No. 2 in Australia and
ucation and much of his philanthro- money to my offspring,” he says. “You No. 156 in the world. Does he put much
py is focused on schools. In January, he never know what will happen in the end importance on these rankings? “No, not
opened the Triguboff Holistic Center with them. They might fight each other. at all,” quips Harry. F
for Vocational Training and Entrepre-
neurship in southern Israel. The center
offers job training to the area’s Bedouin
residents, particularly women.
Triguboff has also given millions to
his alma mater, The Scots College, and
supports Sydney’s leading Jewish pri-
vate school, Moriah College, where he
built the Moshe Triguboff Auditorium,
named after his father. When Sydney’s
Yeshiva schools were in financial diffi-
culty, Triguboff stepped in to buy their
properties and lease them back to the
schools at a discount.
“I believe that we need good
schools,” Triguboff says. “So of course
I gravitate to where I went to school,

Triguboff is, in fact, a

China-born billionaire

and a second-generation

property tycoon.

Sizing Up Property Down Under With market confidence returning, conditions appear to be

looking up for Meriton. “Buyers are certainly out in force as they
Australia’s property sector has softened over the past two years. can see the downside risk has almost evaporated,” says Dan
It was feared the downturn would worsen if the heavily favored White, managing director of Australian real estate broker Ray
opposition Labor party won Australia’s federal election in May. White. “But for us, the big question is, will sellers now return to the
But the conservative Liberal party confounded pollsters to retain market to participate? Our listings have not jumped yet. We have
power and immediately moved to boost the market. “We’re lucky seen a decent bump in inquiries for property online. We know buy-
to have [Scott] Morrison as prime minister,” Triguboff says of the ers are no longer concerned about prices bottoming out, as that is
Liberal leader. “He understands housing.” happening right now.”
In June and July, the Reserve Bank of Australia cut official Deda Besa, chief economist of St George Bank in Sydney, be-
interest rates, bringing owner-occupier mortgage rates to their lieves that the market hasn’t yet reached its nadir. “There are some
lowest levels—about 4%—in more than four decades. Regulators encouraging signs that house prices might be near a bottom in DEAN HAMMER FOR FORBES ASIA
have also proposed relaxing lending limits to individual borrowers, Sydney and Melbourne by early 2020 and possibly before the end
giving more leeway to banks hamstrung for several years after a of this year,” she says. “But it is likely that prices will hover around
royal commission imposed restrictions. the bottom for quite some time.”

20 | FORBES ASIA OCTOBER 2019