Mark Leigh Bouris AM (born 30 November 1960) is an Australian businessman who is best known as the founder and chairman of 'Wizard Home Loans', Australia's second largest non-bank mortgage lender behind Aussie Home Loans. He is now the chairman of Yellow Brick Road, a business which he founded in 2007.[2] Bouris was the host of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia from 2011 to 2015. He has also hosted The Apprentice Australia and The Mentor, and has written numerous books and appeared on various podcasts. He manages Instagram and YouTube on social media.
Mark Bouris | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 30 November 1960 |
| Education | Benilde High School[1] University of New South Wales |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur Business executive Media personality |
| Years active | 1980−present |
| Employer(s) | Founder and Executive Chairman of Yellow Brick Road Executive Chairman of TZ Limited |
| Notable work | Yellow Brick Road Wizard Home Loans |
| Spouse | Katherine Bouris |
| Website | markbouris |
Early life
editMark Bouris was born in Punchbowl, New South Wales, to a Greek father of the Greek Orthodox faith and an Irish-Australian mother of the Roman Catholic faith.[3] and lived in Punchbowl until the age of 18.[4] Bouris attended Benilde High School in the nearby suburb of Bankstown.[1] After high school, Bouris attended the University of New South Wales.[1]
Business career
editWizard Home Loans was founded by Bouris in 1996 and was sold to GE Money in 2004 for $500 million.[5][6] In December 2008, Wizard was sold by GE to Aussie Home Loans for a fraction of the $500 million during the 2007–2008 financial crisis.
Current business
editOn 18 June 2009, Bouris became the chairman of TZ Limited. Bouris wrote "I am a true believer in TZ, its technology, its people and now its working rhythms. I am excited about the future and I am privileged to be involved in what I consider to be an extraordinarily bright future for this company."[7]
He currently is the chairman of Yellow Brick Road[8] which is involved in finance planning, finance advice, wealth management and home loans.[9] He is a board member and supporter of the Sydney Roosters rugby league team, in the Australian National Rugby League.[10]
In August 2011, Bouris was appointed as non-executive chairman of Anteo Diagnostics, an Australian biotechnology company that provides innovative medical diagnostic technologies. He is also a Non-Executive Chairman of Serena Resources Limited, an Australian public resources company focused on developing copper opportunities in Chile.[11]
Awards
editBouris first entered the BRW Rich 200 list in 2005[12] and in 2007, he was included on the list for the second time.[13]
In 2012, Bouris was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Business degree (Hon.D.Bus.) from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree (Hon.D.Litt.) from the now Western Sydney University (WSU).[citation needed]
At the 2015 Australia Day Honours, Bouris was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the finance industry, particularly the home loan mortgage sector, to education, and to charitable organisations.[14]
Media personality
editBouris has been well known by Australians for his personal appearance in Wizard Home Loan commercials[15] during the late 1990s and early 21st century. He has also been well known by the Greek community because he has Greek heritage. Based on his high media profile, on 8 June 2009, Bouris was named as the host of the Australian version of The Apprentice to air on the Nine Network, the series aired in 2009 but only remained on air for one season.[8] Bouris remained as host when the spin-off series The Celebrity Apprentice Australia premiered in October 2011. The Celebrity Apprentice was a huge success, and often rated within the top 5 television programs of the day. In November 2011, the Nine Network announced that they had renewed the series for a second season, which began airing in April 2012 and featured imported celebrity David Hasselhoff.
As well as regular media appearances, Bouris hosts The Mentor, a weekly podcast produced and distributed through the PodcastOne network. In 2017, it was announced Mark Bouris would be turning the podcast into a reality television show.[16]
In November 2020, Mark Bouris launched his new podcast Straight Talk.[17]
References
edit- ^ a b c Abernethy, Mark. "Wizard of Oz". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
- ^ "About us | Portfolio and Wealth Management Company". YBR.
- ^ "Making a Mark" (transcript). Australian Story. ABC TV. 14 August 2006.
- ^ Williams, Sue (21 November 2016). "The unlikely suburb of Punchbowl tipped as Sydney's newest property hotspot". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ "About Wizard Mortgage Corporation, home loans". 27 January 2004. Archived from the original on 27 January 2004.
- ^ Murray, Lisa (30 October 2004). "league". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 25 January 2008.
- ^ "Home". TZ Net. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
- ^ a b Mark Bouris casts his spell on The Apprentice
- ^ "Yellow Brick Road". www.ybr.com.au.
- ^ Read, Brent (29 September 2010). "The man who revived the Roosters". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
- ^ "Speaker profile: Mark Bouris". Saxtons.
- ^ "The billionaire boom". The Sydney Morning Herald. 18 May 2005.
- ^ Gettler, Leon (31 May 2007). "Rich list reveals who has the dough". Brisbane Times.
- ^ "Member (AM) of the Order of Australia in the General Division". Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia. 26 January 2015. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
- ^ "Wizard Home Loans - We'll work harder for you!". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ Buckley, Danielle (21 November 2017). "Bouris to star in new reality show". Daily Telegraph.
- ^ Bouris, Mark (19 November 2020). "What is Straight Talk?". YouTube.