Shaun Bonétt

Shaun Bonétt
Born
Shaun Keith Alfred Bonétt

(1971-01-01) 1 January 1971 (age 54)
London, England, UK
Nationality
EducationSaint Ignatius' College, Adelaide
Alma mater
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur and property developer
Spouse
Vanessa Bonétt (née Baron)
​
​
(m. 2004)​
Children2
Parent(s)Anton and Marlene Bonétt
AwardsSovereign Military Order of Malta
Honorary Doctorate (University of South Australia)
Notes

Shaun Bonétt (born 1 January 1971) is an Australian entrepreneur[1] and property developer who founded and is CEO of Precision Group.[3][4]

Early life

Shaun Bonétt was born in London, England, to parents of Australian and Maltese descent,[1] Marlene and Anton Bonétt, the latter of whom was an oncologist for the World Health Organization.[2] Bonett moved to Australia in 1978[5] and studied at Saint Ignatius College, in Adelaide.[1] In the 1980s, Bonétt worked as a law clerk in Adelaide, and studied at the University of Adelaide, graduating in 1991 with a Bachelor of Laws and Arts.[1][6] Bonétt is also a graduate of the University of South Australia.[7][8]

Career

Bonétt worked for the law firm Thomson Simmons & Co from 1990 to 1996 and then as a Senior Associate at Phillips Fox Lawyers from 1996 to 1998.[2]

In 1994 when he was 24 years old, Bonétt founded Precision Group, a property investment and management company,[6] and was involved in the re-positioning of MacArthur Central,[9] and collaborated with the Bank of China to purchase the Chevron Renaissance Shopping Centre.[10] Bonétt also negotiated the establishment of a Tiffany & Company outlet in Adelaide Central Plaza, along with three other international retailers,[11] including David Jones.[12]

In 2003 Bonétt joined the board of directors of iSelect Health & Life Insurance, in 2005 he joined the board of Lenders Direct, and in 2007 he joined the board and became Chairman of Litigation Lending Services.[2] In 2018 Bonétt acquired a material stake and board seat in the data analytics ASX listed company Skyfii Limited.[13]

In May 2006, Bonétt negotiated one of the largest property swap transactions in Australian history, when he swapped Precision Group's property at 160 Ann Street, Brisbane for MacArthur Central in Brisbane, in a $186 million swap transaction.[9]

In 2010 Bonétt's Precision Group was the first private Australian businesses to undertake various finance transactions with the Bank of China and Bonétt subsequently made submissions to the Foreign Investment Review Board ("FIRB") to enable more Australian businesses to access loans from International banks without having to first obtain FIRB approval.[14] In 2015 Bonétt also actively supported and made representations to Government for Australia's free trade agreement with China.[15]

In 2022, the University of South Australia conferred to Bonétt an honorary doctorate.[16]

Personal life

In 2004, Bonétt married model, Vanessa Baron. As of 2021, they have a daughter, Eve, and a son, Gabriel.[17][18]

Net worth

Bonétt debuted on the Business Review Weekly (BRW) Young Rich List in 2006 placing third with a net worth of A$220 million[19][20] and was ranked as Australia's Richest Person 40 and Under in 2007–2008.[21] As of May 2023, Bonétt's net worth was estimated by The Australian Financial Review to be A$2.31 billion.[22] In 2019 Bonétt's net worth was estimated by The Australian to be A$1.17 billion (79th rank).[23]

Year Financial Review
Rich List 		Forbes
Australia's 50 Richest
Rank Net worth (A$) Rank Net worth (US$)
2015[24] $478 million Increase
2016
2017[25][26] $718 million Increase
2018[27] 96 Increase $784 million Increase
2019[28] 90 Increase $1.00 billion Increase
2020[29] 99 Decrease $1.06 billion Increase
2021[30] 101 Decrease $1.17 billion Increase
2022 61 Increase $1.90 billion Increase
2023[22] 53 Increase $2.31 billion Increase
Legend
Icon Description
Steady Has not changed from the previous year
Increase Has increased from the previous year
Decrease Has decreased from the previous year

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Gibson, Candy (Winter 2007). "$220 million reasons to smile". Lumen. The University of Adelaide. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d "Department of Information". Department of Information - Malta. 25 September 2009. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2016. Mr Shaun Bonett is the son of the late Dr Anton and Mrs Marlene Bonett. Dr Anton Bonett was a cancer specialist who came to Australia with the World Health Organization in the late 1970s.
  3. ^ "New kid on the very rich block". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 September 2007. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Shaun Bonett". BRW. 22 May 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  5. ^ Grech, Herman (28 September 2007). "Maltese property developer tops Australia's young rich-list". Times of Malta. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  6. ^ a b Carter, Bridget (25 September 2008). "Shopping centre magnate Shaun Bonett took risks early on". The Australian. Retrieved 23 January 2016. [dead link‍]
  7. ^ "UniSA and Precision Group present retail game-changer challenge with $25,000 prize" (Press release). City of Adelaide. 5 April 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  8. ^ "UniSA PhD students reinvent retail therapy wheel". Alumni Business News. University of South Australia. 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Precision swaps offices for shops". The Australian Financial Review. 25 May 2006. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2016. Precision Group founder Shaun Bonett is already planning how to reposition Brisbane's MacArthur Central Shopping Centre, which he acquired yesterday for $119.5 million.
  10. ^ Cranston, Matthew (27 February 2015). "Bank of China backs Gold Coast centre: Apple a likely tenant". The Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  11. ^ Tauriello, Giuseppe (26 August 2013). "Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Topshop in talks to open Adelaide stores". The Advertiser. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  12. ^ "Revamp for SA plaza". Inside Retail. 17 October 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  13. ^ Lenaghan, Nick (13 June 2018). "How a shopping centre owner targets consumers in $133m revamp". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  14. ^ Cranston, Matthew (27 February 2015). "Bank of China backs Gold Coast centre: Apple a likely tenant". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  15. ^ Cranston, Matthew (2 September 2015). "Rich Lister Shaun Bonett says China free trade will underpin property values". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  16. ^ England, Cameron (10 May 2022). "Standing by good friend Christine Holgate was a question of values, Shaun Bonett says". The Australian.
  17. ^ Cassar, Josanne (9 September 2007). "The Next generation". The Malta Independent. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  18. ^ Wayne, Michael (17 November 2021). "Shaun Bonétt and Trevor Dill, Managing Director and COO of Precision Group". The CEO Magazine.
  19. ^ "Wealth: simple as ABC". The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 September 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  20. ^ "Wealth: simple as ABC". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 September 2006. Retrieved 24 January 2016. The chief executive of ABC Learning Centres is now Australia's richest person aged 40 years and under, the latest annual BRW Young Rich list shows...Property developer Shaun Bonett debuted on the list at No. 3, with $220 million.
  21. ^ "New kid on the very rich block". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 September 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  22. ^ a b Bailey, Michael; Sprague, Julie-anne (26 May 2023). "The 200 richest people in Australia revealed". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  23. ^ "The List — Australia's Richest 250". The Australian. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  24. ^ "BRW Rich 200 List 2015". BRW. 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  25. ^ Stensholt, John, ed. (25 May 2017). "Financial Review Rich List 2017". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  26. ^ Mayne, Stephen (26 May 2017). "Mayne's take: The top 25 Australian billionaires, as claimed by Fairfax". Crikey. Private Media. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  27. ^ Stensholt, John, ed. (25 May 2018). "2018 AFR Rich List: Who are Australia's richest people?". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  28. ^ Bailey, Michael (30 May 2019). "Australia's 200 richest people revealed". The Australian Financial Review. Nine Publishing. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  29. ^ Bailey, Michael; Sprague, Julie-anne (30 October 2020). "The full list: Australia's wealthiest 200 revealed". The Australian Financial Review. Nine Publishing. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  30. ^ Bailey, Michael; Sprague, Julie-anne (27 May 2021). "The 200 richest people in Australia revealed". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 28 May 2021.