Michael Buxton

Executive Director of MAB Corporation

One of the richest men in Australia, Michael Buxton is ranked on the Financial Review Rich List of 2017. Sixth generation developer and Executive Director of MAB Corporation, this good-natured personality is the tour de force behind Melbourne’s most established property conglomerate.

Creating beautiful cities in Victoria, MAB Corporation is involved in residential, retail, industrial and commercial developments, as well as fund management. NewQuay, Docklands and University Hill in Bundoora are some of MAB’s winning projects. In a joint venture with Gibson Property Corporation, MAB has just embarked upon its largest and most visionary development – Merrifield, a new city for Melbourne comprising more than 900 hectares located on the Hume Highway in Mickleham.

The artists’ passion, intelligence and creativity enrich and make us more knowledgeable, and our lives more beautiful and meaningful.

Making nationwide headlines Buxton recently donated his private contemporary Australian art collection worth $26 million to the University of Melbourne.  Inspired by legacies, not just acquisitions, he says, “Twenty-three years ago, I had a dream to develop a major, forward-thinking private collection that would demonstrate excellence in contemporary Australian art. To have Buxton Contemporary Museum designed by Fender Katsalidis Architects and located at the University of Melbourne’s Southbank campus, alongside the Victorian College of the Arts, amid such a major arts precinct, is better than what I hoped for.”

Melbourne is a very safe place to do business. There are good governance, healthy work force and well-planned cities.

That’s not the only collection this art connoisseur has amassed.  “I have three collections – one in Australia, another in America and a South East Asian collection in Sicily.  I just bought a 17th century hotel in Sicily and plan to transform the interior into a contemporary space featuring the best 26 artists from 26 different countries, in each suite.” Buxton recently redesigned his holiday home in Portsea. “We took out the tennis court to incorporate a Moroccan garden and a sculpture park featuring the works of David Mitchard, Callum Morton, Francis Upritchard and Jamie North.”

With an emphasis on the intrinsic values of life, Buxton describes himself as “a person who loves life”. He plays sports, golf, swim, surf, fish, scuba dive and has sailed around the world in his yacht Black Pearl. “We have worked very hard and become successful, but wealth is not that important to us.  We use our wealth very well to do good things so that we can leave some great things for the world.”   

身为澳大利亚最富有的人之一，Michael Buxton 在 2017 年的《金融评论》富豪榜上名列前茅。这名性格温润的第六代房产开发商和 MAB Corporation 的执行董事，也是墨尔本成熟房地产集团背后的强大力量。

在维多利亚州量身打造美丽的城市，MAB公司积极参与住宅、零售，工业和商业发展，也包括基金管理。NewQuay、Docklands和Bundoora的University Hill这一连串的标志性亮点都是MAB的一些成功项目。而在与Gibson地产公司的合资计划中，MAB刚开启了最大型、最具远见的发展-Merrifield，被誉为墨尔本的新城市，在位于Mickleham的Hume 高速公路上有超过 900 公顷的发展地段。

“艺术家的激情、智慧和充沛创造力丰富了我们的知识，使我们的生活更美好和有意义。”

全国范围热络的话题是Michael Buxton最近以私人名义向墨尔本大学捐赠了价值2600万澳元的当代澳大利亚艺术收藏品。由于受到文化遗产的启发，他想做的不仅仅是收购。

“23年前，我有一个梦想，那就是开创一个大型、超前思维的私人收藏，展示澳大利亚当代艺术的优秀之处。而由建筑师Fender Katsalidis所设计的Buxton当代艺术博物馆，位于墨尔本大学南岸校区，比邻维多利亚艺术学院，比我所预想中的更好。”

当然，这并非这位艺术鉴赏家的唯一珍藏。“我有三个艺术收藏，一个在澳大利亚、一个在美国，还有一个东南亚收藏位于西西里岛。另外，我刚在西西里岛买了一家17世纪的酒店，打算把内部空间改造成一个当代艺术区，每个套房都有来自26个不同国家中26位最佳艺术家。”而他最近重新设计装潢波特西区的度假别墅。“我们把网球场分别设计成摩洛哥花园和雕塑公园，里面有David Mitchard、Callum Morton，Francis Upritchard与Jamie North的作品。”

“墨尔本是很适合从事商务活动的地方。也是治理稳妥、具备健康劳动力和规划良好的城市。”

Buxton强调生命的内在价值，并将自己描述为“热爱生命者”。他从事的运动包括高尔夫球、游泳、冲浪，钓鱼，深潜，以游艇环游世界。“我们努力工作而取得了成功，但财富并非是最重要的。我们必须懂得善用财富去做好事，这样我们就可以为世界留下伟大的遗产。”

Text by Billie Ooi-Ng Lean Gaik   /  Photography by Layzhoz Yeap