Bruce Gordon (businessman)

Bruce Gordon is an 81-year-old Australian citizen, residing mainly in Bermuda He ranks 891 on The Forbes List of billionaires (2007) with a net worth of $1.2 billion.

Early life

Educated at Cleveland Street Public School, Surry Hills, Sydney, Bruce Gordon worked as a magician during the 1939-45 War, in promotion and later management for the Tivoli theatre circuit. He then went on to manage Australian and Far East sales for Desilu Studios (US comedian Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's production house),which was later taken over by Paramount Pictures. He later serviced as Vice President and then President for Paramount Television International Distribution. He worked at Paramount International Television for 35 years.

Television

He gained control of Television Wollongong Transmission Ltd (later rebadged as WIN TV, itself an acronym of Wollongong Illawarra New South Wales) in 1979 from Rupert Murdoch. Gordon expanded WIN Television's operations in the 1990s, buying out the other shareholders in 1991 after buying two licenses in Queensland and Crawford Productions that dated from 1945. By the end of the decade WIN had licenses and transmitters in New South Wales, Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania. Hitchcock Media International is also a sub branch with links to the WIN Corporation through the Hitchcock Family ties to the Gordons. The WIN Corporation also operated property and land development operations (legacy of acquisitions), network management and a radio station in Wollongong.

Through his WIN Corporation (which owns WIN Television), Bruce owns 24 regional TV stations as well as the property on which they sit. Changes in Australian media ownership rules in 2007 were expected to make WIN a prime buyout target, though Gordon said he would only entertain bids of at least $780 million. In April 2007, the WIN Corporation made binding offers to buy both STW and NWS. Bruce Gordon's WIN Corporation also owns public shares in Publishing and Broadcasting Limited, Network Ten and Sunraysia Television. Gordon has proposed making WIN independent of the Nine Network.

WIN previously had a 48% stake in Sunraysia Television, previous holder of the STW television broadcast licence in Perth and thus of Channel Nine Perth. The company is controlled by Eva Presser, whose husband runs the Sunraysia Natural Beverages company. She resisted a 1995 takeover bid by the WIN Corporation or the Perth station, which remained Sunraysia's only significant television broadcasting asset. In February 2007, PBL Media announced that it would acquire 100% of Sunraysia Television subsidiary Swan Television & Radio Broadcasters Pty Ltd for AU$136.4 million. On the 21st of April the board of Sunraysia Television endorsed WIN's revised offer of $163 million. After a share buyback, Sunraysia was delisted by the ASX in December 2007.

Football

Bruce Gordon had been believed to be ready to bankroll a Wollongong-based team in the A-League Soccer 2008-2009 season if bids from either Gold Coast or North Queensland had fallen over at the 11th hour. He was believed to have finally agreed in principle to finance an Illawarra team in the A-League. The potential franchise had been more than a year in the making, and while it had made significant progress in terms of planning, sponsorship and infrastructure, without Gordon's investment the bid had lacked any real chance of success. Gordon is no stranger to football - he also headed the consortium which owned the Wollongong Wolves in the old NSL. The A-League speculation was more recently proven to be incorrect, to the point where Bruce Gordon stated publicly to the Illawarra Mercury, during the announcement of Win Corp's naming rights sponsorship of WIN Jubilee Oval at Kogarah, that he held no interest in funding an A League club. WIN owns 24% of the St.George Illawarra Dragons via a partnership with the Illawarra Steelers Club. Win Corp, through ownership of WIN/9 TV stations has a vested interest in backing Rugby League, due primarily to their Free to air coverage of this football code. Gordon is also a keen Dragons supporter, through his involement with the Illawarra Steelers, attending most of their games in Wollongong when in Australia.

Obscurity

There has been no major independent biography of Gordon or study of WIN. Some insights are offered by reports of licence inquiries by the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA), available on its site, and in works dealing with competitors such as Packer, Murdoch and Bond.

Bruce is married with 2 children, Andrew and Genevieve. He is reportedly fiercely protective of his children.

On 1 November 2007, Gordon donated several heart defibrillators to the Bermuda Police Service, having previously donated defibrillators to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in Bermuda, Bermuda International Airport and the Bermuda Fire Service.