TV Exec And Philanthropist Neil Balnaves Dies At 77

A luxury yacht reportedly worth some $250 million was one of the trophy assets allegedly bought with money stolen from 1MDB

Neil Balnaves, 77, died in a boating accident off the coast of Tahiti on Monday. The former Australian TV executive and philanthropist was aboard the luxury yacht The World with his wife Diane when the fatal accident took place.

On Tuesday, Balnaves Foundation issued a statement confirming his death, “The Balnaves family sends their heartfelt thanks for people’s kind words and wishes and kindly requests privacy at this difficult time.”

Balnaves’ death comes 20 years after he survived a boating accident on Gold Coast that almost killed him. In an interview with ABC Australia’s Michael Cathcart in 2013, he revealed the accident “flattened” him and took him a year to recover.

Unable to travel for a year during his recovery, Balnaves sold his TV production business and used much of his wealth to support his philanthropic endeavors. At that time, he gave $20 million of his fortune to help organizations in the Australian creative and arts world.

“What was I going to do with it?” he told Cathcart. “There was that quite weird stage where you think a bigger boat would be nice, or a plane would be lovely, or a bigger house. But that was pretty false, and then that brought into existence the Balnaves Foundation. I really came to the conclusion that it was good to give something back to the country that have [sic] been good to me,” he continued.

After news about his death came out, tributes poured in for the philanthropist, who oversaw the Australian versions of “Big Brother,” Bananas and Pajamas” and “Water Rats.” He had also served as the Managing Director of then-Hanna Barbera Pty and Hamlyn Group before buying out Taft-Hardie and reorganizing the firm as the Southern Star Group, which later became known as Endemol Australia. He also chaired Ardent Leisure Group from 2003 to 2016.

After starting he own foundation, Balnaves had donated over $40 million to eligible organizations not only in the field of arts but education and medicine as well. Through his organization, the former TV exec also helped better the lives of the young, disadvantaged, and indigenous people in Australia.