Serial Block buyer Danny Wallis spends $14m at this year’s auction

Eccentric multi-millionaire Danny Wallis spent big at this year’s Block auction – and even he thinks he overpaid for the winning home.

For the third year in a row, one man has bought three of the houses available at The Block’s auction – and this year, he quite literally saved the day.

Eccentric multi-millionaire Wallis emerged from this year’s finale as the auctions’ sole buyer, with the two houses he didn’t buy being passed on entirely.

It does raise the question of how successful The Block finales would be without Wallis’ penchant for spending big on-camera.

Danny Wallis saves the day again.

Last year, Wallis bought Mitch and Mark’s Block-winning home as well as Tanya and Vito’s and Kirsty and Jesse’s, for a combined total of $12.2 million, and in the 2020 season he bought three apartments for just under $12m.

Wallis gave contestants Omar and Oz, first up at this year’s auction, the biggest win in Block history when he bought their Gisborne property for an eye-watering $5,666,666.66. Factoring in their $100,000 prize money, it gave the Sydney friends a profit of more than $1.68m.

Wallis’ unusual antics during the auction included his usual dollars-and-cents bidding style, and pausing the auction at one point to confer privately - with his dog.

Omar and Oz are the Block's biggest winners yet.

And in typical nonchalant Danny Wallis style, he later conceded that he probably overpaid for the property.

“I probably spent too much at the first auction, but was surprised to pick up two more homes at what I feel was a bargain price, so I guess it all evened out in the end for me at least,” he said.

He also bought Tom and Sarah-Jane’s property for $4,100,000.99 – giving them a profit of just $20,000 – and Rachel and Ryan’s for 4,249,999.50, making them this season’s distant second placed-team with a profit of $169,000.50.

So who is this man who, at this point, seems to be single-handedly keeping Block auctions afloat?

How Wallis got rich

Wallis is practically a full-time cast member at this point. Picture: The Block

Wallis has an estimated net worth of $120 million. Starting his career at ANZ, he then founded I.T. service management company DWS in 1991, which has since grown to have offices around Australia and New Zealand. Wallis is the CEO and Managing Director.

And a relatively recent purchase may explain why Wallis’ Block spending has been in overdrive in recent years: in September of 2020, DWS was bought by Indian tech giant HCL Technologies for $126 million in cash.

A long Block history

Wallis first appeared on The Block back in 2012, where he purchased one of the South Melbourne homes with the memorable winning bid of $1,400,001.01.

His confusing, erratic bids – and his habit of using his camera time to promote his business ventures – initially made him a divisive figure among Block viewers, and those trying to run the auctions, with one auctioneer even labelling him a “nuisance.”

But in recent years, as Wallis has opened his wallet on The Block more and more, he’s been accepted into the fold as something of a recurring guest star. He appeared throughout this season of the show, running a challenge and being openly wooed by contestants in the hope he’d purchase their homes. For at least three of them, it paid off.

A very relaxed homebuyer

Danny Wallis buys Block houses like they’re going out of fashion. Picture: Jay Town

Wallis dropped a bombshell in a radio interview after his 2020 Block buying spree, revealing that he hadn’t even fully inspected the three apartments he bought.

“I don’t actually like going in a lot of houses I buy, because I don’t like seeing what people live like. I just buy them on the outside,” he said.

He also revealed he only watches the Sunday night reveals on The Block, and doesn’t bother with the other episodes, hinting he’s not a big fan of the show.

“I don’t watch it, I find it a bit … yeah. I just watch the reveals,” he said.

And while his showboating auction antics might annoy those he’s bidding against, there is a charitable aspect to his large spending ways. Wallis has in the past donated several of his Block purchases to be used as homes for children’s charities.