Mail order wine tycoon gives £37m to Great Barrier Reef

A multi-millionaire from Queensland who made his fortune in the mail order wine business has donated £37m to the conservation of the Great Barrier Reef.

Philanthropist David Thomas has pledged the value of his estate to the Great Barrier Reef

As reported by the Daily Mail, David Thomas from Sunshine Beach sold his Cellarmasters business 20 years ago to set up The Thomas Foundation with his late wife Barbara.

A turtle swims in the Great Barrier Reef

The pair pledged £20 million over the last two decades to environmental causes and Thomas has set aside an additional £17m (the value of his entire estate) to go to looking after the Great Barrier Reef when he dies.

“As long as I live, I will work to help save the Great Barrier Reef,” Thomas told Australian newspaper the Courier Mail.

“We have a lot of wealthy Australians and I hope more of them do things like this. This is not about self-glorification – if I can speak out and get some results, then great,” he added.

The 77-year-old has played a pivotal role in a number of Australia’s recent environmental campaigns and helped establish The Nature Conservancy in the country.

His three children support his decision to donate his fortune to conserving the world heritage area off the Queensland coast. He was inspired to set up Cellarmaster Wines after buying wines from The Sunday Times Wine Club while living in London.

Moving back to Australia, he decided to replicate Tony Laithwaite’s success Down Under and launched the business in 1982.

Cellarmaster Wines grew to include a dozen wine club across Australia and New Zealand. Thomas sold the business to the Fosters group in 1996 for £90 million.