Patrick Grove

Grove spent his early years in Singapore and Indonesia, where he studied at Tanglin Trust School, the United World College of South East Asia[13] and the Jakarta International School. He moved to Sydney in 1993 and completed his high school education at the Scots College.

Grove graduated from The University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Commerce, where he majored in Finance and Accounting.

Whilst still a student at The University of Sydney, Grove started two companies. Upon graduating in 1996, he joined Arthur Andersen[14] before leaving in June 1999 to start the dot-com company Catcha.com. In an article in Australia Unlimited, he is quoted as saying: "I wanted to start my own business whilst in college but my parents wouldn’t let me. We made a deal that I would finish university and work at Arthur Andersen for three years before I could do anything I want. I left after two-and-a-half years, as I couldn't resist the urge to move back to Asia to start Catcha."[15]

Catcha.com quickly became a high-profile dot-com in Asia[16] and raised over US$12 million from a combination of angel investors, venture capitalists and publicly listed companies.[17] The company received approval in principle from the Stock Exchange of Singapore in early 2000. Whilst on a global IPO roadshow, the NASDAQ crashed in April 2000[18] and the IPO was famously aborted[19] as the company become a victim of the dot-com bubble.

With an aborted IPO, a collapsing media environment and US$1.5m in debt[20] bankruptcy seemed imminent, but Grove managed to turn the company around and is credited with being one of the rare dot-com survivors.

By 2004–2005 Grove and his partners had turned around the business and completed a successful management buyout.[21]

In 2006, Grove moved back into the online space by founding the iProperty Group which was successfully listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 2007.[22] He and his partners revamped and grew the business into the largest network of online property portals in Asia, operating in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau with investments in India and the Philippines. Following a meeting with Rupert Murdoch in June 2014, he invested US$100m into the company[23] In February 2016, the company was acquired by REA Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation for A$751m in one of the largest acquisitions of an ASEAN Internet Company[24]

In 2009, Catcha launched Catcha Digital in conjunction with Microsoft to run all their online assets in Malaysia.[25] In July 2011, Grove listed the company, then called Catcha Media Berhad on the Malaysian Stock Exchange. Following the merger between Catcha Media subsidiaries and Says Sdn Bhd, a new company, Rev Asia Media Equity Holdings Sdn Bhd was formed.[26] Catcha Media further announced in July 2014 that it had changed its name to Rev Asia Berhad.[27]

In 2011 Grove launched Dealmates, a Malaysian-based e-commerce site as a joint-venture with Mindvalley founder Vishen Lakhiani.[28] In 2012, Dealmates pivoted from a group buying to a flash sales model that focuses on selling products.[29] It successfully raised US$2 million in venture capital funding from Intel Capital. In early 2014, Dealmates.com was acquired by the iBuy Group and was successfully listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

In September 2012, Grove listed the third company he founded, iCar Asia, on the Australian Securities Exchange.[30][31] iCar owns and operates ASEAN's largest network of online automotive sites in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.[32] In March 2013, Australia's leading online cars classifieds Carsales.com Limited acquired a 19.9% seat in the company,[33] later increasing its shareholding in iCar Asia to 22.9% in March 2014.[34] The S&P Dow Jones Indices announced iCar's inclusion to the All Ordinaries Index on 21 March 2014.[35]

Grove had his fourth IPO with the listing of iBuy Group on the Australian Securities Exchange on 20 December 2013.[36]

Besides the four listed companies, Grove also controls a number of private companies including iflix, Southeast Asia's leading Internet TV service, launched in Malaysia and the Philippines in May 2014, and has additionally co-founded and invested in Frontier Digital Ventures, a digital investment firm focusing on online classifieds in frontier markets.[37]

Among the awards and recognition Grove has received for his entrepreneurial achievements are:

• 2000: Named a "Global Leader of Tomorrow" by the World Economic Forum[44]
• 2002: Named a "New Asian Leader" by the World Economic Forum
• 2004: "Austcham Young Entrepreneur of the Year"[45]
• 2007: Recognised by KLue magazine among the "Top 40 under 40 to watch"
• 2008: Named as one of "Asia's Best Young Entrepreneurs 2008" by Bloomberg Businessweek[46]
• 2011: Inaugural listing on the "BRW Young Rich List", part of the annual BRW Rich 200[47][48]
• 2013: Named in the Australia Unlimited "50 Global Achievers" list[49]
• 2014: Judge in Talent Unleashed Awards, alongside Sir Richard Branson and Steve Wozniak.[50]
• 2016: Inaugural listing on the "Forbes Annual List of 50 Richest Malaysians" [Forbes Malaysia's 50 Richest]

Grove was born in Singapore on 30 April 1975 to a Singaporean-Chinese mother and an Australian father. He has two brothers and a sister.

In May 2016, Grove's net worth was estimated as A$587 million by the BRW Rich 200 list, an annual list of the richest Australian people.[51] As of 2019, Grove's net worth was estimated by the Financial Review 2019 Rich List as A$885 million.[1] Grove was first recognised in the Forbes 2016 list of 50 richest Malaysians.[52] As of 2019, Forbes estimated his net worth as US$400 million.[2][53] Grove's net worth did not meet the A$472 million cut-off for the Financial Review 2020 Rich List.[54]

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