Bob Ell

Ell, a former carpenter[6] who was born in Merriwa in the Hunter region in New South Wales,[7] founded Leda Group, a privately owned property development company in 1976. The company's head office is located in Sydney; and it has business interests in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.[8] Included in Ell's property portfolio are residential developments at Pimpama, Queensland; and at Cobaki Lakes, and Kings Forest, New South Wales. He has raised plans to develop a cruise ship terminal, including three liner berths plus a superyacht marina, three resorts and an option for a casino at Tugun.[9] Ell has commercial property interests in shopping centres at Ipswich Riverlink, Victoria Point and Morayfield in Queensland; and at the Tuggeranong Hyperdome in Canberra.[4] In 2012 it was reported that Leda had developed properties worth a total of more than A$3 billion since Ell established the group in 1976.[10]

Ell floated Leda on the Australian Stock Exchange in the late 1980s and privatised the company in 1990.[11][12]

In 2009 it was reported that Ell acted as a surety for Michael McGurk and provided A$100,000 in bail for firebombing and assault charges against McGurk; with the charges subsequently dropped.[6][13][14] Following the 2009 murder of McGurk, Ell issued a statement detailing his business and personal relationship with McGurk,[1] including an alleged interest in the Crest Hotel, located in Sydney's Kings Cross.[15] Ell had a longstanding dispute with Greens Tweed Shire councillor Katie Milne where he successfully sued her for defamation in the NSW Supreme Court, and was awarded A$15,000 in damages. The defamation action related to an email sent by Milne alleging he had a scandalous association with McGurk.[16]

In 2012 Ell sought and was granted permission by the Privileges Committee of the New South Wales Legislative Council to lodge a Citizen's Right of Reply on behalf of Leda Holdings Pty Limited. The reply related to comments by Cate Faehrmann MLC, a member of the NSW Greens, in the Legislative Council on 9 November 2011. Ell's reply highlighted errors of fact and the distortions contained in Faehrmann's speech. The Privileges Committee ordered that the Citizen's Right of Reply be published.[17]

Ell is married to Brigit, twenty-six years younger than Ell, and they have four children WIlliam, John, Charles and Tiffiany . Ell has a son and two daughters from his first marriage to Barbara.[9] Ell resides both on the Gold Coast and in Sydney,[4][9] with an additional residence in Noosa.[9]

Wealth rankings

In 2014, the Business Review Weekly assessed Ell's net worth at A$1.29 billion;[4] and Forbes Asia assessed his net worth at A$1.10 billion.[5] In February 2013, Ell listed for sale a 4,397-square-metre (47,330 sq ft) residential property in Cremorne with an asking price of between A$20 – 25 million.[9][18][19] In July the same year, Ell sold his Potts Point penthouse apartment for A$15 million[19] and purchased a non-waterfront house in Bellevue Hill for A$30 million[4] twelve months later.[20] It was reported between 2000 and 2002 that Ell owned a luxury 36-metre (118 ft) catamaran called Leda worth A$15 million.[7][12] In The Australian Financial Review Rich List, that superseded the BRW Rich 200, estimated Ell's net worth as A$1.98 billion in 2020.[2]

Year	Financial Review Rich List		Forbes Australia's 50 Richest
	Rank	Net worth (AUD)	Rank	Net worth (USD)
2010[21]		$1.10 billion	n/a	not listed
2011[22]	27	$1.20 billion	n/a	not listed
2012[10]	28	$1.14 billion	n/a	not listed
2013[23]	32	$1.13 billion	26	$0.96 billion
2014[4][5]	25	$1.29 billion	22	$1.10 billion
2015[24]			19	$1.20 billion
2016[25]			23	$1.20 billion
2017[26][27][28]		$1.52 billion	28
2018[29]	48	$1.56 billion
2019[30][3]	44	$1.84 billion	30	$1.42 billion
2020[2]	47	$1.98 billion

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