Sydney millionaire Shane Florio’s life before tragic crash
More details about the life of a Sydney demolition tycoon have emerged after his tragic death following a speedboat crash.
A millionaire demolition mogul who died after a boat crash in an exclusive Sydney suburb enjoyed an idyllic family holiday not long before his sudden death.
Shane Florio suffered internal injuries after his $700,000 speedboat crashed into a yacht anchored on the Parramatta River near Hunters Hill on Sunday night.
His 25-year-old partner, Cali Lloyd, was also on board the boat but survived the collision police described as “quite intense”.
“The impact was so severe it actually immediately sunk the vessel that was on the mooring too,” Acting Inspector Ryan Spong said on Monday.
“So that indicates the collision was quite intense.”
Mr Florio, 46, and Ms Lloyd returned home to the waterfront Hunters Hill mansion he owned after the crash, before triple-0 was called. He later died at Royal North Shore Hospital.
Property records show the Heberton Ave property was bought for $8.8 million in 2021, and is now worth in the vicinity of $10 million.
Ms Lloyd worked as a business development and marketing manager for father-of-three Mr Florio’s company Home Demolitions, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Just last month she shared a video on social media showing a deluxe Hamilton Island holiday she, Mr Florio and his three children — that he had with his ex-wife — took over winter.
It featured a helicopter ride, sightseeing boat cruises and family time by the pool.
Mr Florio has previously spoken about how his company, which he started in 1999, rose from humble beginnings to turning over tens of thousands of dollars per month.
In a 2017 interview, Mr Florio said the early days of business consisted of “stripping bathrooms and just doing rubbish removals”.
“I remember our first house, we demolished it by hand,” he said.
“Seven days it took us and we made $100 each.”
He said years into the trade most of the jobs his business was landing were still “in the $10,000 to $20,000 mark” until a life-changing contract.
“We picked a job up for just shy of half a million dollars,” Mr Florio said.
“It was very, very overwhelming. But once we got it under our belt and completed it, it opened up the doors.”
The company was supercharged in 2016, according to Mr Florio’s interview published by SBS, when it began reselling desirable materials from the knockdowns.
Mr Florio said his workers pulled anything valuable off the houses they were demolishing, such as windows, doors, roofs and fireplaces.
Those items were then sold online, and the company’s margins started to increase from seven per cent per house to 30 per cent.
“We’ve got about 80,000 items listed, we list about 300 or 400 a week,” he said at the time.
“Turning over stock of about $50,000 a month.
“Believe it or not we actually demolish houses to get product to feed the salvage business, which has superseded the demolition business.”
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Mr Florio has been remembered as a doting father who lived “life to the max”.
“He definitely lived life to the fullest. We are all in shock and still can’t believe it’s true,” his uncle Johnny Florio wrote.
“We will miss you like crazy. Heaven has a new angel. Fly my brother fly.”
