Public memorial for ‘visionary’ billionaire
A public memorial service will be held for the late Australian property developer and billionaire Lang Walker at the Sydney Town Hall at 11am on Friday.
Mr Walker died in January at his home in Sydney, and was laid to rest at a private family funeral on the Gold Coast.
His family have been overwhelmed by the support and well wishes from the community and wanted to hold a public memorial service so people had an opportunity to celebrate Mr Walker’s life and achievements.
Mr Walker is an accomplished businessman who started the company A & L Walker with his father Alec in the 1970s.
Public memorial for ‘visionary’ billionaire
The company originally specialised in earthmoving, excavation and quarrying before moving into residential property – rebranding to Walker Corporation in 1973.
It later branched into the development of apartments, industrial parks and commercial centres, with some 500 staff around the world.
In 2015, Mr Walker was awarded an Order of Australia for his philanthropy and service to the community.
His generous nature extended to the Walker Family Foundation and its philanthropic partnerships in community projects such as the Powerhouse Museum and the Lang Walker AO Medical Research Building.
After his death, Mr Walker’s family said their hearts were “broken” by the loss of a “great man who changed the lives of so many people through his visionary projects and philanthropy”.
“Lang loved creating incredible places where people can live and work, but he loved his family more than anything else in the world and his generosity and affection had no boundaries,” they said.
“His zest for life and his relentless pursuit of perfection lives on within everyone in the Walker family.”
The property tycoon’s health had deteriorated for some time before his death and he had stints in and out of hospital.
Walker Corporation managing director and chief executive David Gallant described Mr Lang as a “visionary” and an “inspirational leader” who was the first to “creatively tackle the challenge of urban transformation”.
“Lang’s vision will remain an enduring force through the Walker DNA and the Walker Way which he actively passed on – it is embedded in our culture and our modus operandi,” he said.
Mr Walker’s wealth was last estimated in The Australian’s Richest 250 list to be worth about $6bn – which made him the nation’s 15th richest person.
His property empire included more than 1000 projects across the nation, such as King St Wharf in the Sydney CBD, the Collins Square transformation in Melbourne and Riverlea in Adelaide.
The organisation later went global with developments in Singapore and Malaysia.
In 2015, Mr Walker was awarded an Order of Australia for his philanthropic efforts and service to the community.
Mr Walker was a long-time supporter of the St Vincent’s Curran Foundation and the foundation’s neuroscience research at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.
He was also the benefactor of the Lang and Sue Walker Centre for Hearing Research, the Garvan Institute, as well as a supporter of St Vincent’s Prostate Cancer Centre and the Children’s Cancer Institute Australia.
Mr Walker is survived by his wife Sue and three adult children Blake, Chad and Georgia. Mr Walker had 10 grandchildren.