Healthcare and media entrepreneur Paul Ramsay , who died on Thursday, has left a philanthropic bequest of more than $3 billion – one of the largest in Australian history – to his personal foundation that could distribute as much as $50 million a year.

The chairman and founder of private hospital operator Ramsay Health Care is believed to have suffered a heart attack just over a week ago while on his private yacht Oscar 11. He was travelling in Europe with a close circle of friends including deputy chairman Michael Siddle. After being admitted to a hospital on the Spanish island of Ibiza, Mr Ramsay was flown on a private jet to his home in Bowral in the NSW Southern Highlands, where he passed away.