James Fairfax

James Oswald Fairfax AC (born 27 March 1933) is an Australian company director, philanthropist, and is a member of the Fairfax family, an Australian family prominent in the newspaper publisher industry.

Biography

Fairfax was born in Sydney, the eldest son of Sir Warwick Oswald Fairfax and Marcie Elizabeth (Betty) Wilson. He is the grandson of Sir James Oswald Fairfax (1863–1928) and David Wilson KC (1879–1965).

Educated at Cranbrook School, Geelong Grammar School and Balliol College, Oxford, he became a director of John Fairfax & Sons Ltd in 1957 and took over from his father in 1977. He resigned in 1987 and sold his shares to his half brother Warwick Fairfax, during 'young Warwick's' ultimately disastrous takeover bid.

Fairfax published a memoir in 1991.

Philanthropy and honours

A prominent art collector, initially of Australian art, and from the 1960s increasingly of European old masters. He is a generous supporter of the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the National Gallery of Australia. A catalogue of his collection of art was published to accompany an exhibition held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, between April and July 2003. In 2015, Fairfax's net worth was estimated in the BRW Rich 200 to be A$302 million, comprising a mix of property, diversified investments and an extensive collection of art and antiques.^[1]

He was appointed an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia in 1993 in recognition of service to the arts and to the community;^[2] and a Companion of the Order (AC) in 2010 for eminent service to the community through support and philanthropy for the visual arts, conservation organisations and building programs for medical research and educational facilities.^[3]

References

Further reading

• Farifax, James (1991). My regards to Broadway: a memoir. Pymble, NSW: Angus & Robertson. 
• Beresford, Richard; Raissis, Peter (2003). The James Fairfax collection of old master paintings, drawings and prints. Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales.