Frank Lowy

Lore & Background

Sir Frank P. Lowy is an Australian and Israeli businessman, best known as the former long-time chairman of Westfield Corporation, a global shopping centre company. He was born in Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) in 1930 to a Jewish family of Slovak-Hungarian origins. During World War II, he was forced to live in a ghetto in Hungary. After the war, he made his way to France and boarded a ship for Mandatory Palestine, but was intercepted by British authorities and interned in a detention camp in Cyprus. He later joined the Haganah and the Golani Brigade, fighting in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War in the Galilee and Gaza. In 1952, he left Israel for Australia, where he met fellow immigrant John Saunders. Together, they founded Westfield Development Corporation, building shopping centres in Australia, the United States, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Lowy served as a Director of the Reserve Bank of Australia from 1995 to 2005. He is the founder of the Lowy Institute, a leading Australian foreign affairs think tank, and also chairs the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel. He married Shirley Rusanow in 1954; they had three sons, two of whom managed the Westfield business. Lowy moved to Israel in late 2018. He has appeared on the Financial Review Rich List since its inception in 1984, and was assessed as Australia’s richest person in 2010.

Reader's Guide

Sir Frank Lowy’s business career was defined by the creation and expansion of Westfield Corporation, a global shopping centre enterprise that grew from a single development in Blacktown, Sydney, into a network of properties across Australia, the United States, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. He co-founded the company with John Saunders in the 1950s, listed it on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1960, and after Saunders left in 1987, Lowy continued to lead the firm for decades. In 2018, Westfield was acquired by the French company Unibail-Rodamco. Lowy also served as the inaugural chairman of Scentre Group, which manages Westfield-branded centres in Australia and New Zealand. Beyond retail, he held a directorship on the Reserve Bank of Australia from 1995 to 2005. His influence extended into public policy through the Lowy Institute, a leading Australian foreign affairs think tank that has been characterized as neoliberal, centre-right, or reactionary. He also chairs the Institute for National Security Studies, an Israeli think tank focused on national security and Middle Eastern affairs. Lowy’s involvement in Australian soccer was notable: he was president of the Hakoah Social Club in the 1980s, withdrew the team from the National Soccer League after disappointing crowds, and later returned to the sport following the collapse of Soccer Australia in 2004. His personal history—surviving the Holocaust, fighting in Israel’s 1948 war, and later building a multinational corporation—positions him as a figure linking postwar migration, commercial globalization, and philanthropic influence in both Australia and Israel.

Did You Know?

• Lowy was born in Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) to Jewish Slovak-Hungarian parents and was forced to live in a ghetto in Hungary during World War II.
• After the war, he boarded the ship Yagur heading for Mandatory Palestine but was caught by British authorities and interned in a detention camp in Cyprus.