Geoffrey Edelsten’s secret son revealed as bodybuilder Matthew Beard

Geoffrey Edelsten’s only child has come forward publicly for the first time and friends say he’s inherited at least one thing from his famous dad.

The secret son of controversial businessman Geoffrey Edelsten has revealed himself publicly after shunning the spotlight for more than 30 years.

Matthew Beard, 32, is a buffed, artistically tattooed, fitness enthusiast from Sydney who works in the recycling industry.

He is Edelsten’s only child and the heir to the colourful Melbourne character’s estate.

Beard was among the small group of mourners at Edelsten’s private funeral in Springvale last month.

It is understood he was the only immediate family member to attend.

Geoffrey Edelsten's son Matthew Beard. Picture: Instagram

Mr Beard is a fitness enthusiast who now lives in Sydney. Picture: Instagram

Beard was introduced to the public on Monday by his father’s New York-based widow, Gabi Grecko, who posted, with his permission, a series of photos of a ripped Beard working out in a gym and sporting a gold mouth grill.

At 185cm in height and weighing in at a muscled 100kg, Beard cuts quite a different figure to his diminutive father.

They do however share a flare for fashion and jewelled accessories as evidenced by Beard’s glitzy grill.

“He gets it from his dad,” a friend said.

Beard and Grecko have become acquainted via social media, joined together by their shared grief, since Edelsten’s passing.

Mr Beard (far right) at his father’s funeral. Picture: David Caird

Despite public perception to the contrary, Beard and Edelsten were certainly not strangers to each other, staying in contact via phone and email over the years.

It is understood, however, that they had not seen each other in person since Beard was a child.

Beard never turned his back on his headline-prone father and among his circle of friends in Sydney it was common knowledge that he was Edelsten’s son despite keeping his mother’s surname.

“He wasn’t the worst of dads and he wasn’t the greatest of dads, but at the end of the day he was still his dad,” a friend said.

Mr Beard and Edelsten stayed in phone contact over the years. Picture: Instagram

Edelsten died in his apartment in June. Picture: Getty Images

The series of striking images of Beard are the first to be released of him, other than a picture of him as a 4-year-old child with his mother, Isabel Beard, which appeared in a magazine article in 1994.

Isabel and Edelsten met when she was a patient of his in Sydney in the late 1980s and they had an affair.

Edelsten died aged 78 in Melbourne on June 11, 2021 after several years of ill health.