Billionaire businessman Lang Walker AO dies, aged 78

Business magnate and philanthropist Lang Walker has been remembered as a “visionary” who “lived and breathed property”. The 78-year-old founder of Walker Corp spent his final days in Sydney with his wife and family.

Right to the end, Lang Walker was planning and building new places for people to live and work.

“I love the challenge,” the Walker Corporation founder and chairman told The Daily Telegraph three years ago as he unveiled plans for a $13 billion project for 13,000 homes at Appin in southwest Sydney.

The billionaire Australian property tycoon died on the weekend aged 78 and has left an expansive legacy.

“I look at him as a nation builder,” businessman and former Venues NSW chairman Tony Shepherdsaid. “He was a great man, a good friend and a true visionary.

“He came from humble beginnings and through sheer hard work and force of will built an empire.”

Walker Corporation Founder and executive chairman Lang Walker has passed away.

Mr Walker was born in Sydney and worked as a deckhand before joining his father Alec in an earthmoving and quarrying business in 1964. Despite his father’s concerns about debt, Mr Walker moved into residential, industrial and commercial property development.

By the time he died on Saturday evening surrounded by his family he was ranked the 15th richest Australian worth $6 billion with his Walker Corporation employing 500 people including 80 in Malaysia and Singapore.

NSW Premier Chris Minnspaid tribute to Mr Walker’s “enormous legacy” that can be seen across NSW and thanked him for his “contribution to our city and our state”.

“Lang Walker transformed a humble family firm into a company whose name and work is recognised internationally,” he said.

Business Western Sydney executive director David Borger. Picture: John Appleyard

His legacy can be seen across the skylines of Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Queensland in 1200 projects that include 30,000 housing lots and 10,000 apartments as well as 45,000 homes in Malaysia. Another $36 billion of projects are in the pipeline.

“We are going to be there on the first block and right through to the last block. That’s what placemaking is all about,” Mr Walker told The Daily Telegraph.

He took pride in developing “places” where others only saw challenges including transforming the Rhodes peninsular from one of the most polluted places in Australia to a thriving community.

Business Western Sydney executive director David Borgersaid Mr Walker had transformed the heart of Western Sydney with the $2.7 billion Parramatta Square development.

“The sheer will of the guy was able to get things moving,” Mr Borger said. “He came in and started work, spending $50 million of his own money before a single lease was signed.

“That confidence was one of the big reasons why it came off,” Mr Borger said. “There are not many projects that have had such a profound impact on a city as Parramatta Square has had on Parramatta.”

Mr Walker was also an incredibly generous philanthropist, putting $20 million into the Powerhouse Museum, funding a new Medical Research Building named after him in Macarthur and supporting the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse among many others. In 2015 was awarded an Order of Australia for his service to the community.

Mr Walker at Tower 4 at Parramatta Square – one of his many big projects. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts

Mr Walker with wife, Sue, at a charity dinner. Picture: Supplied

One of his toughest challenges was taking over the half finished development of a 57-hectare private island in Fiji. “It was a challenge. I thought, I can fix this in about 18 months, and it’ll take about $10 million,” he told Forbes. “After five years and more than $100 million spent, I thought, hmm, I don’t know whether this was a good idea.”

It was. To rent all the exclusive accommodation on Kokomo Private Island, which Mr Walker described as “the most beautiful place on earth”, today costs more than $400,000 for a week.

Mr Walker as work began on his Rhodes and Homebush Bay development in Sydney.

Mr Walker’s Finger Wharf development at Woolloomooloo attracted big-name residents including Russell Crowe and John Laws.

Mr Walker died at his home in the Woolloomooloo Wharf he developed 30 years ago that attracted neighbours including actor Russell Crowe and broadcaster John Laws. His 37.5 metre superyacht Kokomo II, named after the dinghy he had as a child, berthed silently outside.

In a statement, his heart broken family, wife Sue, children Blake, Chad and Georgia and 10 grandchildren, paid tribute to his “zest for life and relentless pursuit of perfection”.

“Lang loved creating incredible places where people can live and work, but he loved his family more than anything else in the world and his generosity and affection had no boundaries,” they said.

Urban Taskforce chief executive Tom Forrest said those projects were “a legacy and tribute to Lang’s drive and determination.”

Mr Walker summed it up best himself when he was pushing to get the country moving again after the Covid pandemic: “I dunno, I’m just a positive bugger who wants to get on with it,” he said.

‘LIVED AND BREATHED PROPERTY’

The Property Council of Australia said Mr Walker has “lived and breathed property for more than five decades”.

“Lang Walker AO has delivered 1000-plus projects, from national landmarks to homes for thousands of families,” it said.

At the time of his death, the Council said Mr Walker was overseeing a project pipeline of $25 billion, including 25,000 dwellings in Malaysia and 8000 apartments, 25,000 dwellings, 11 multi-story office towers and large industrial estates throughout Australia.

Walker Corporation has about 500 staff around the world.

Tower 4 at Parramatta Square: Another Lange Walker success. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts

‘GREAT VISIONARY’

The Directors of Walker Group paid a heartfelt tribute to their founder and chairman in a media statement.

“Lang formed Walker over 50 years ago and built a world class business shaping the Group into Australia’s largest privately owned property company. In recent years Lang’s strong focus has been on the Group’s future,” it began.

An aerial view of Rhodes Waterside development on banks of Parramatta River in Sydney.

“Lang made the strategically-defining decision some time ago to hold a substantial property portfolio encompassing over $9 billion of prime assets in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. This portfolio will continue to be managed, curated and added to by the executive team for the long term.”

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer David Gallant said Lang has been recognised and regarded as “a great visionary, an inspirational leader, and the first to creatively tackle the challenge of urban transformation”.

He listed milestone developments including Broadway Shopping Centre, Rhodes Peninsula, Woolloomooloo Wharf, King Street Wharf, Hope Island Resort, Collins Square and Parramatta Square.

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