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| Bruce Gordon ranks 891 on The World's Billionaires 2007 with a net worth of $1.2 bil. | Bruce Gordon ranks 891 on The World's Billionaires 2007 with a net worth of $1.2 bil. | ||
| He is 78 years of age. | He is 78 years of age. | ||
Revision as of 21:09, 17 April 2007
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Bruce Gordon ranks 891 on The World's Billionaires 2007 with a net worth of $1.2 bil. He is 78 years of age. Although an Australian Citizenship, Bruce resides mostly in Bermuda. Bruce is married with 2 children Andrew and Genevieve.
Through his Win Corp. Bruce owns 24 regional TV stations as well as the property on which they sit. Changes in Australian media ownership rules expected this year could make WIN a prime buyout target, but Gordon will entertain only bids of at least $780 million. Also owns public shares in PBL, Ten Network and Sunraysia Television. Worked at Paramount International Television for 35 years. Lives in Bermuda.
Gordon worked as a magician during the 1939-45 War, in promotion for the Tivoli theatre circuit and managed Australian sales for Desilu Studios (ie US comedienne Lucille Ball's production house) before serving as an executive for Paramount International Distribution.
He gained control of Television Wollongong Transmission Ltd (later rebadged as WIN) in 1979. Gordon expanded its operations in the 1990s, buying out the other shareholders in 1991 after buying two licenses in Queensland and the Crawford film/video production house that dated from 1945 and passed through the control of Rupert Murdoch and Christopher Skase. By the end of the decade WIN had licenses and transmitters in NSW, WA (as the dominant regional broadcaster), QLD, SA, Victoria, ACT and Tasmania.
The group also operated property and land development operations, network management and a radio station in Wollongong
WIN has a substantial stake in Sunraysia Television, former holder of the STW 9 television broadcast licence in Perth and thus of Channel Nine Perth. The company is controlled by Eva Presser, whose family appears to be Australia's largest marketer of prune juice.
Presser acquired a minor station in Mildura, sold Queensland broadcasting investments to Skase at a considerable profit and acquired control of STW 9 for $95 million from the receivers of Bond Media in 1989, disposing of the Mildura station to ENT for $18 million.
She resisted a 1995 takeover bid by WIN for 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 (ie Channel Nine Perth) for $136.4 million.
There has been no major independent biography of Gordon or of 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.