Anthony Pratt
Anthony Pratt | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 11, 1960 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, businessman |
| Known for | Chairman of Pratt Industries and Visy |
Anthony Joseph Pratt (born 11 April 1960) is an Australian entrepreneur serving as chairman of Pratt Industries and Visy, recognized as the largest privately held packaging and paper enterprise globally. He is the successor to Richard Pratt, former chairman of Visy, whose father Leon Pratt established the company in 1945.
On 30 April 2025, Pratt participated in the “Invest in America” summit at the White House, hosted by President Trump, where he committed to a $5 billion investment aimed at generating 5,000 manufacturing positions throughout Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. He was among prominent business figures such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, and Softbank Chairman Masayoshi Son. President Trump publicly acknowledged Pratt’s commitment during a press briefing. Pratt Industries stands as the largest manufacturing firm under individual ownership in the United States.
By March 2025, The Australian estimated Pratt and his family’s combined wealth at AUD 28.6 billion (US$18.6 billion). This valuation shifted to AUD 25.84 billion according to the Financial Review Rich List published in May 2025.
Early life and education
Born on April 11, 1960, in Melbourne, Victoria, Pratt is the son of Richard Pratt and Jeanne Pratt, both immigrants of Polish-Jewish heritage. His siblings include Heloise Waislitz and Fiona Geminder.
Raised in the Melbourne suburb of Kew, he attended Mount Scopus Memorial College located in Burwood. Pratt earned a Bachelor of Economics with Honours from Monash University in 1982. During the 1980s, he was actively involved with the Young Leadership Division of the United Israel Appeal, serving as co-chair for its fundraising initiatives.
Business career
Pratt launched his professional journey at McKinsey & Company in 1982 before transitioning to his family’s enterprise, Visy, where he initially held the role of joint general manager and advanced to deputy chairman by 1988. In 1991, he moved to the United States to spearhead expansion efforts. Over a span of fifteen years, Pratt Industries’ revenue escalated from $100 million to $3 billion by 2016 through a combination of new ventures and acquisitions.
Following his father's passing in 2009, Pratt assumed the executive chairman position at Visy and returned to Australia. In 2013, he became a member of the Australia-Japan Business Cooperation Committee and accompanied Prime Minister Tony Abbott on an official trip to Indonesia. That year also saw former US Ambassador Jeffrey Bleich join the advisory board of the Pratt Group.
In 2016, Pratt inaugurated a paper mill in Valparaiso, Indiana that utilizes exclusively recycled materials, increasing his personal fortune by approximately $1 billion. His US operations continued to expand with additional facilities such as a box manufacturing plant in Wisconsin (2017) and a $500 million paper mill in Kentucky (2021). He committed A$2 billion towards investments across both Australia and the US focused on sustainable manufacturing job creation.
In collaboration with the Australian Financial Review, Pratt initiated the Superfund Roundtable in 2017 to enhance lending from superannuation funds to Australian enterprises. Emphasizing sustainability issues like agriculture, food security, and water management aligns with Visy’s significant food and beverage client base. In 2016, he sponsored The Wall Street Journal's first Global Food Forum aimed at promoting US food exports and employment growth.
Pratt acquired Owens Illinois’ Australian operations for A$1 billion in 2020, becoming Australia's foremost glass bottle producer. He pledged A$2 billion towards increasing recycled content use and advancing clean energy projects within glass manufacturing.
By late 2022, Pratt Industries employed approximately 17,000 staff across Australia and the US. The company ranked eighteenth among privately owned manufacturers in the United States. Recent developments include a A$500 million glass recycling facility near Brisbane (2022), a recycled can production plant in Sydney processing over one billion cans annually (2023), and an expanded glass sorting operation in Melbourne doubling recycling throughput.
In November 2022, together with US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, Pratt announced a A$5 billion commitment for recycling and clean energy infrastructure designed to generate 5,000 environmentally focused manufacturing jobs over ten years in America. September 2023 marked the opening of a $700 million recycled paper mill in Henderson, Kentucky; there Governor Andy Beshear honored Pratt with the Kentucky Colonel designation. That same month he revealed plans for a US$500 million investment creating hundreds of jobs in Pennsylvania.
Included within Pratt’s US$5 billion pledge is a technologically advanced $200 million corrugated box factory inaugurated by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp in April 2024 that produces over one million boxes daily.
In September 2024, alongside New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, Pratt unveiled Australia's most energy-efficient glass recycling plant located in Sydney—a A$150 million facility capable of producing more than two million recycled glass containers per day using oxygen-only fuel technology.
Relationship with politicians and royalty
After Donald Trump's election as US president in 2017, Pratt joined Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and committed an additional USD 2 billion investment into American manufacturing employment. Over subsequent years he visited Mar-a-Lago approximately ten times cultivating ties with Trump. In 2018, he attended the White House during Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s visit. Trump publicly referred to Pratt as a friend in 2019 while commending his financial support for a Pratt Industries facility in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Pratt acknowledged engaging with Trump primarily to advance business objectives. When private remarks surfaced later on, Trump dismissed him as "a red haired weirdo from Australia" denying discussions about submarines.
In 2017, Pratt took part in Vice President Mike Pence's business roundtable held at Pence's official residence in Washington D.C.
Allegations have emerged that post-presidency Trump disclosed classified information regarding U.S. nuclear submarines to Pratt; this sensitive material was reportedly shared by Pratt with up to forty-five individuals including journalists, employees within his companies, Australian officials, and former Australian prime ministers—posing potential national security risks. Brian Butler, a longtime staff member at Mar-a-Lago, provided federal investigators details about these exchanges.
As of 2023, Pratt has made payments to Prince Charles and remunerated former Australian prime ministers Tony Abbott and Paul Keating for consultancy services.
In 2024, Pratt contributed US$15.1 million supporting Donald Trump’s political campaigns—allocating US$14 million to the Make America Great Again super PAC and US$1.1 million towards Trump’s inaugural fund—ranking him among top five donors alongside figures like Elon Musk, Timothy Mellon, Miriam Adelson, and Linda McMahon.
Net worth
Pratt first appeared on the Financial Review Rich List following his father's death in 2009 as Australia's wealthiest individual with an estimated net worth of AUD 4.3 billion. His fortune expanded over time though mining magnates later dominated rankings. Since then both AFR Rich List and Forbes Australia's richest lists generally combined his wealth with that of his family; however Forbes separated his assets from those of sisters Fiona Geminder and Heloise Waislitz starting in 2015.
In 2022 The Australian valued his fortune at A$27.7 billion while earlier Bloomberg News ranked him seventh globally among green industry billionaires with personal wealth estimated at US$12 billion (February 2021). The Financial Review Rich List for 2025 appraised his net worth at A$25.84 billion considering siblings' wealth independently.
In disclosures from 2016 by the Australian Taxation Office, despite revenues exceeding AUD 2.5 billion during fiscal year 2013–14, Pratt Consolidated Holdings reported zero tax payments.
| Year | Financial Review Rich List |
Forbes Australia's 50 Richest | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Net worth Template:AUD | Rank | Net worth Template:USD | |
| 2009 | Template:Nts Template:Gain | $4.30 billion Template:Gain | ||
| 2010 | Template:Nts 
|
$4.60 billion Template:Gain | ||
| 2011 | Template:Nts
|
$5.18 billion Template:Gain | Template:Nts Template:Gain | $2.70 billion Template:Gain |
| 2012 | Template:Nts
|
$5.45 billion Template:Gain | Template:Nts 
|
$3.40 billion Template:Gain |
| 2013 | Template:Nts Template:Gain | $5.95 billion Template:Gain | Template:Nts
|
$4.50 billion Template:Gain |
| 2014 | Template:Nts Template:Gain | $7.64 billion Template:Gain | Template:Nts Template:Gain | $7.00 billion Template:Gain |
| 2015 | Template:Nts
|
$10.76 billion Template:Gain | Template:Nts
|
$3.50 billion
|
| 2016 | Template:Nts
|
$10.35 billion
|
Template:Nts Template:Gain | $4.20 billion Template:Gain |
| 2017 | Template:Nts Template:Gain | $12.60 billion Template:Gain | Template:Nts Template:Gain | $5.30 billion Template:Gain |
| 2018 | Template:Nts
|
$12.90 billion Template:Gain | Template:Nts
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| Legend |
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Philanthropy and political funding
In 2017, Pratt committed to donating A$1 billion to charitable causes before his passing.
He ranks among Australia's most significant political contributors with nearly A$4 million donated across major parties during the period from 2021 to 2022.
A Fortune article published in 2023 characterized his contributions as "inherited wealth utilized for relationship building," highlighting expenditures such as nearly US$200,000 for Mar-a-Lago membership fees and US$1 million spent attending an event featuring Donald Trump.
As leader of the Pratt Foundation, he has directed hundreds of millions towards philanthropic activities and currently allocates approximately US$20 million annually to organizations including Planned Parenthood, The Urban League, and St Jude's Hospital. He holds trustee status at the Appeal of Conscience Foundation and acts as patron for the Trilateral Track II Food and Water Security Dialogue—an initiative launched alongside former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres aimed at strengthening India-Israel-Australia relations. Additionally, he supports the Australia India Leadership Dialogue and serves as founding patron of The Prince's Charities Australia.
Pratt is a member of the National Board for the Muhammad Ali Center based in Louisville and has facilitated high-profile events such as Muhammad Ali’s visits to Australia; he donated US$2 million to advance Ali’s legacy through this center in 2022. He participates actively within environmental groups including The Climate Group and has been recognized by organizations such as Mikhail Gorbachev's Global Green USA and Ted Turner's Captain Planet Foundation for sustainability efforts.
Affiliated with Sydney University's United States Studies Centre, Pratt pledged over US$1 billion toward recycling infrastructure and clean energy projects via the Clinton Global Initiative starting in 2007—a commitment fulfilled five years ahead of schedule.
In 2017 he organized a summit focused on reducing Australia's food waste by half by year 2030.
In November 2021 he funded The Australia Chair position at the Center for Strategic and International Studies aiming to strengthen bilateral relations between Australia and other nations. Following severe tornadoes striking Kentucky that December he contributed US$1 million each toward storm relief efforts and support for Tri-State Food Bank initiatives; additionally in 2022 Pratt Industries donated another US$1 million supporting Feeding America’s hunger relief programs.
Honours
- United States
Pratt received New York-based Foreign Policy Association's Corporate Social Responsibility Award in 2009. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg proclaimed September 17th 2013 as "Pratt Industries Day." He earned RISI North American Packaging CEO of the Year Award in 2016; industry journal PaperAge named him Executive Papermaker of the Year (2020), followed by Fastmarkets RISI honoring him as North American CEO of the Year also that year.
- Australia
Monash University awarded him an honorary doctorate (PhD) recognizing accomplishments across philanthropy, commerce, and business leadership in 2013. He is also affiliated with Australian-American Leadership Dialogue fostering stronger bilateral connections between leaders from both countries.
Personal life
Pratt identifies as Jewish; he holds U.S citizenship along with family members who have resided previously between both New York City and Melbourne residences. In November 2024 he announced plans for permanent relocation to United States after receiving permanent residency status (Green Card), reflecting predominance of his commercial ventures within America.
He inherited Raheen, Kew, a heritage-listed mansion situated within Melbourne's Kew suburb originally purchased by his father during the 1980s; substantial renovations commenced there beginning in 2016 when property valuation stood near A$100 million prior to refurbishment work beginning.
During 2024 legal disputes arose involving members of the extended family when half-sister Paula sought increased entitlement over familial wealth distribution.
References
External links
- Short description with empty Wikidata description
- Articles without Wikidata item
- 1960 births
- Living people
- Australian billionaires
- Australian chief executives
- Australian Jews
- Australian people of Polish-Jewish descent
- Businesspeople from Melbourne
- Monash University alumni
- Australian expatriates in the United States