‘It was like drilling oil’: Australian fast food king Jack Cowin reflects on ‘biggest break’ of his life

Australian billionaire Jack Cowin story began as a regular kid shovelling snow and delivering newspapers in Canada. At 82, his venture is worth $3 billion.

Australian billionaire Jack Cowin’s story began as a regular kid shovelling snow and delivering newspapers in Canada.

At 82, Cowin sits on top of an envious fortune, built on the back of Australia’s rapidly growing fast-food landscape that spawned in the 1960s.

Noticing a gigantic gap in the market ready to be filled with hungry young Aussies, Cowin methodically built an empire that stretched across 380 Hungry Jack’s locations, including some KFC outlets and Dominos Pizzas.

His story isn’t just one of business success — it has been a decades-long tale of audacious risk, and a healthy dose of entrepreneurial instinct.

But before he became one of the kings of Australian fast food, Cowin grappling with the possibility of a life as another cog in the machine. He knew he didn’t want to be tied down by corporate chains like his father, who was constantly on the move for Ford.

“I saw that my dad was always on the treadmill of here, there, and everywhere. I didn’t want to be at the whims and beckon call of a corporation,” Cowin said via US outlet CNBC.

As a kid, he was already making money mowing lawns and selling Christmas cards and building his reputation as a “sales guy” at the ripe old age of eight.

“I never had to ask for money,” Cowin laughs.

By the time Cowin was at university, he was already doubling his professors’ wages by making $8,000 a year selling trees and shrubs to farms.

Australian billionaire Jack Cowin story began as a regular kid shovelling snow and delivering newspapers in Canada.

After graduation, he dove into life insurance and quickly gained a reputation as a skilled salesman in that field.

But it wasn’t long before the lure of something bigger called him to Australia in 1969.

That call came from a couple of old high school mates who had landed a gig with the American KFC company. They were sent to do market research on whether Australia was ready for fast food.

“They phoned me up and said, ‘You should be down here. You should come and see this.’ So without a moment’s notice, I’m on a plane and I fly to Australia,” Cowin recalled.

Landing in Perth in February 1969, Cowin immediately recognised a gap in the Aussie market for fast food. At the time, Australia’s restaurant scene was dominated by fish and chip shops and Chinese restaurants, but the US fast food boom was undeniable.

Cowin was so convinced that he immediately put down $1,000 as a deposit on a KFC franchise despite having no funds to actually open the store.

This moment was where the true entrepreneur in Cowin began to emerge.

Noticing a gigantic gap in the market ready to be filled with hungry young Aussies, Cowin methodically built an empire that now stretches across 380 Hungry Jack’s locations, including some KFC outlets and Dominos Pizza.

“Imagine this — this kid comes into your office, says he wants to borrow $10,000... he’s got no experience in the business... how long before you throw him out?” Cowin said with a laugh.

By some miracle, he managed to scrounge up $300,000 by convincing 30 Canadians to lend him $10,000 each.

He described it as “the biggest break I’ve had in my life”.

By December of 1969, Cowin had opened his first KFC franchise. The rest was history.

‘It was like drilling oil’.

“It was like drilling oil and hitting oil on your first wildcat well,” he said.

But he didn’t stop at just chicken — he quickly expanded into hamburgers, pizza, and food manufacturing.

Today, his business is worth over $3 billion, pulling in a whopping $300 million every year.

“Whatever you do, do it well,” he said.

Cowin summed up his drive for the next generation, imploring that they find something they love doing and committing everything to their work.

“When you can’t tell the difference between work and play, you’re in the right place,” he said.